Sonic Boom: Lost Love
by DiddyKF1
Summary: Co-written with grimlock1997 (DeviantArt). Set in the Boom universe. Sonic reveals that he once had a relationship with Mina Mongoose. This is his story of how they fell in love, and how their relationship abruptly came to a tragic end.
1. Prologue: Sudden Vision

**Hello, everyone! So, on DeviantArt, grimlock1997 and I have been working on this big project where we bring Mina Mongoose (from the Archie comics) into the Sonic Boom universe, and she and Sonic form a short-lived romantic bond. He decided that we should release it on his 21st birthday, which is today, and while he posts it on DA, I will be posting it on here. We've been working on it for the past three months, and although we haven't finished it yet, we've made great progress on it. :)**

 **Just so you know, much of this is written in grimlock's style, which is different from mine in some ways, so you'll be seeing more of his style than mine in here. The present day scenes will be set a few months after season 2 of Sonic Boom, while the flashbacks will be set one year before season 1.**

 **So, without further ado, here's our prologue! We hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **SONIC BOOM: LOST LOVE**

* * *

 **PROLOGUE**

 **Sudden Vision**

* * *

It was a beautiful summer's day on Bygone Island, and the tropical island was looking just as beautiful as ever, with perfect and clear blue skies, with hardly a cloud seen in sight above the island. The year was 2018, and the sandy beaches were almost looking like gold, as the waves silently crashed against the shores of the island. Seagulls flew across the island, making their traditional cawing sounds. The mountain in the background on the island was covered with snow, while the base was grey and black.

As we then transition into the jungle parts of the island, we could see green vegetation growing beautifully in the undergrowth of the trees. Fruits like apples, bananas and oranges could be seen in the leaves, shining brightly in the morning sun. Flowers were seen on the grass, with a range of red roses, yellow daffodils and lovely bluebells, along with a small range of smaller flowers seen in the mix too. Butterflies were also seen fluttering about in the jungle, flying around the flowers and staying above the grass.

One colorful butterfly then leads the way, as it flies out from the tall marsh grass, and we then come to an opening, where the town, Hedgehog Village, could then be seen from the outside of the jungle. The town was more like a tribal village, given that most of the buildings were looking like tribal huts from the past.

Though, there have been rumors that the town looked very similar to a past group of tribal ancestors that had a community with Mobians, who hunted for elks and there was once a struggle for power and peace. There was also a traditional 'ageing' ceremony that would be given to people to show their growth and ageing in the tribe.

The people in Hedgehog Village were looking as good as usual, with everyone looking around the town, talking to one another, and pretty much doing their own business with no care in the world or concern for anything bad going on.

Well, Doctor Eggman was not attacking the town today, since he was caught in his Island Fortress with a terrible cold, which prevented him from plotting any of his normal everyday evil schemes to try and take over the town. And every time he tried to take over the town, Team Sonic, led by Sonic the Hedgehog, would always step in and stop his plans before they could even succeed past the first stage. The only two people who could keep the doctor company were his robots, Orbot and Cubot, his only companions.

So, while Eggman was not going to attack the town for a while, at least the town and its people would be safe for quite some time. Although while the members of Team Sonic were sworn to keep the island and its town safe, not all of the townsfolk are really grateful to our heroes, especially to Sonic and Tails.

Anyways, moving on with the story, and changing the location, we could see Sonic the Hedgehog running across the desert parts of the island, with his feet moving fast and his blue aura flowing behind his body, as he ran fast and quick along the sandy terrains of the desert.

Sonic was on yet another one of his morning runs. He considered it to be his daily exercise after having breakfast every morning. He had his arms spread out behind his back, as he focused on the terrains ahead of him, feeling the wind breezing through his quills.

"Ah, yes! I feel like nothing can stop me today!" Sonic said to himself, as he sped into the Valley of Broken Glass.

Suddenly, his mind which would normally be focused on running, protecting the village and fighting Eggman's robots, had a brief flash, and he saw something ... or someone ... standing in front of him. It was a yellow female mongoose with big purple and light yellow flowing hair and grey earrings.

And Sonic knew this mongoose all too well, because he could recognize her appearance, even in transparent form.

"Hi, Sonic!" the mongoose said in an echoey voice as she appeared in front of him in transparent form.

"M-Mina?" Sonic gasped in shock, as he stared at the half-visible mongoose, not paying attention to where he was going.

Suddenly, drifting himself uncontrollably to the left in the Broken Glass, he felt himself being cut in various places, and pains grew all around his body, as glass shards scratched and scraped him.

"Gah! Ow! Ack!" he yelled as he stopped and fell to the ground, placing his hands on his bloodied legs, "Man, I really gotta watch where I'm going."

Then, as he slowly stood back up, he saw another strange vision in his head ...

He pictured himself running across the island with the mongoose right beside him. To Sonic, this was a memory of something he had enjoyed so long ago.

Snapping out of his memory, Sonic brushed the glass shards off and looked up towards the path in front of him, only to see that yet another transparent image of the mongoose standing in front of him then appeared.

Was Sonic hallucinating? Or did he have a bit too much spicy chili in his morning Chili Dogs?

"Think you're faster than me?" the mongoose giggled, before she quickly turned the other way and ran off.

"Mina?" Sonic questioned, as he stared at the mongoose that only he could see, before chuckling and saying, "Come back here, you!"

The blue hedgehog then resumed running, despite his injured legs, and he shook his head to snap himself back into reality once more.

Before long, he was out of the canyon and brushed his way into the jungle. He dodged every fruit tree that could possibly get in his way as he ran at high speed, not wanting to stop. He was, however, starting to feel mystified by these strange visions he had been seeing over the past few minutes; visions of someone he thought he might never see again.

"I-I could've sworn... I thought I just saw Mina," he said to himself.

He blinked his eyes once more, and suddenly he saw Mina Mongoose again. She was running right next to him like they would in all the running races they had together in the past, except she was in transparent form, and nobody else could see her.

"Catch me if you can!" the mongoose laughed, and she began to pull away from Sonic.

The blue speedster couldn't help but giggle as warm memories of him and the mongoose came back to him.

"You won't escape this time, Mina!" he said as he gave chase to the transparent Mina.

Sonic ran through the forest, kicking up leaves and avoiding falling coconuts as he chased after the mongoose that kept appearing in his vision. Eventually, he caught up with her, and they chuckled at each other.

"Oh, I gotcha now, my love!" snickered Sonic as the green rush of leaves suddenly disappeared and it was replaced by many surrounding buildings and huts.

"No, you haven't!" said Mina, her voice reverbing in Sonic's head.

"Oh, yes, I-"

*CRASH!*

Everything was suddenly black as Sonic felt himself smashing into something so hard that he felt his entire body numbing as if he was dizzying and about to pass out. A fast and hard crash like this could almost kill someone if they were unlucky, though thankfully, this was Sonic the Hedgehog, So we don't have to worry too much about that subject.

He managed to stand up, but his movements were so clumsy, and his vision began to turn blurry. He walked aimlessly around, not knowing where he even was. His mind, however, was in a completely different place ...

"Mmmmm ... M-Mina?" he said in a clumsy voice, "I, uh, ... feel so ... daaaaazed. Uuugghhhh."

No longer able to stand on his numb legs, Sonic collapsed to the ground and closed his eyes. He came right on the verge of fainting when he suddenly heard another voice.

"Mina?" it said, and Sonic could tell it was female, "Sonic, ... are you thinking about your old girlfriend?"

The hedgehog opened his eyes, but his vision was still so blurry that he couldn't tell who was kneeling down to speak to him. All he could think about was ... Mina.

"Of course, Mina," he said awkwardly, "I think about you every day."

"Sonic, it's me, Amy," the voice said.

Sonic closed his eyes again for a moment, then he shook his head and managed to regain full consciousness. It was then that he opened his eyes and realized who he was really talking to ...

"Amy!?" He exclaimed.

It was, indeed, Amy Rose. She had heard the crash and had rushed to the scene immediately after it happened. Nobody else around them seemed to show any concern for Sonic.

"Yes, it's me, Amy," she said with a look of concern, "Are you alright, Sonic?"

Sonic then looked around and saw that it was a fruit stand he had crashed into, before he noticed that he was now covered in juice and squashed fruit.

"Oh," Sonic groaned, rubbing his fruit-stained head, "I guess... I was just thinking about Mina, and I guess I didn't see where my shoes were taking me."

Amy sighed and carefully helped Sonic back up to his feet, wrapping an arm around him to be sure that he didn't fall onto the ground again.

"Sonic, ... I think I should take you to Tails," she said, "Maybe he can fix you up from his nasty accident you had here."

"I thought you were the one most medically qualified," said a confused Sonic.

"Well, Zooey and I have been teaching Tails about medicine lately, and he's doing a good job with it," replied Amy, "Last I heard, Tails and Knuckles are playing around with his train set. And Sticks is hanging out with them in the basement of the workshop."

"Oh, I hope Knuckles isn't being so careless down there," sighed Sonic worryingly, "That train set means so much to Tails."

"I'm sure Knuckles is behaving himself well," chuckled Amy, "Now, let's go."

"Thanks, Amy," said Sonic with a grin, but he soon felt a sudden pain in his forehead, "Oh, what a headache."

It was then that a thought had flown into Amy's head. A thought that she knew Sonic had been wanting to keep secret from anyone he knew, except for Tails, Amy and himself. And Amy knew this secret all too very well, as it was something that she could remember very well, since she was around at that particular time in the past.

The pink hedgehog wondered if Sonic would finally talk about his story about his past girlfriend, Mina. She then decided to ask the blue hedgehog, since it couldn't hurt to ask him, just as long as she didn't offend him by accident.

"Sonic..." Amy began, "I was thinking that perhaps you could tell us more about Mina. Besides, I don't think Sticks knows about her yet."

Sonic wasn't very sure about this idea. It embarrassed him whenever someone asked him to tell stories about Mina, unless it was Tails. However, he knew that his friends had been trying to beg him for the last several years, and if he ever wanted that to stop, he had might as well tell them, after keeping it hidden away within himself.

"I'm sure Sticks would be interested, ... I think ..." said Sonic, knowing that Sticks wasn't really one about romance, "After all, she never got a chance to meet Mina before she ... left."

Sonic cringed as the memory of the last time he ever saw Mina flashed in his head for a very brief moment.

"What about Knuckles or Zooey?" asked Amy curiously.

Sonic quickly snapped out of his flashback and replied, "Knuckles only ever got a few glimpses of Mina, but they seldom interacted. And Zooey never met her, either. Well, not that I can remember at least. It's been a few years."

"Did the people of this town take you and Mina together well?" asked Amy.

"Of course, they did!" chuckled Sonic, "They thought we were like dreamy lovebirds."

But this was quite a contrast to what they heard next ...

"I didn't think of you two love losers like that! You guys stunk like bad eggs!" came Dave's voice as they passed by Meh Burger.

"Whatever!" Sonic shot back, trying to hide in the fact he felt insulted.

"I thought of you and Mina were so cute together, Sonic!" Perci the Bandicoot called out, waving to the hedgehogs.

"Gee, thank you..." chuckled Sonic.

"You and Mina were best suited together, Sonic!" Mike the Ox called out, giving a thumbs up, "I remember seeing you guys and I supported your relationship!"

"Thank you, Mike..." Sonic replied, nodding and smiling, "I remember you supported us."

Many others, however, were not very fond of the subject ...

"You two just kept running around and disturbing all of us!" shouted Child Monkey.

"If you ask me, romance is a truly revolting subject!" added T.W. Barker.

"Actually, it wasn't very interesting to me..." put in Fastidious Beaver.

Sonic could only cringe a bit, seeing that their insults were not really nice at all. Amy took notice of this, and she angrily turned to the negative crowd of bystanders.

"Oh, shut up!" Amy shouted, before she turned back to a clearly upset Sonic, "So, they didn't take it well, did they?"

"Fine! I admit it!" Sonic said, sighing in slight frustration, "Half of the town hated us being together because they found it to be just a nuisance! Only a few number of people supported our relationship, like Mike and Perci, but the rest of the people here just wanted to get autographs and pictures of Mina Mongoose, because some of those people were just greedy in the past!"

"Come on, Sonic, let's go see Tails and get you fixed up..." said Amy, calmly.

"Yeah, let's get away from these heartless critics!" growled Sonic as he and Amy finally left the town, leaving behind some groups of villagers who were laughing and glaring at them.

With each passing day, it was becoming more and more clear that the villagers weren't really as fond of Team Sonic as they had previously thought them to be.

While Sonic and Amy began their walk to the workshop, the village people continued to laugh and boo at them, with Sonic really upset over their heartless insults, and Amy, who was feeling somewhat uneasy on the inside, escorted the blue leader away from the heckling people, who tried throwing rubbish at them, but thankfully it misses them. Luckily, the only people who didn't do this negative thing to the two hedgehogs were both the villagers Mike the Ox and Perci the Bandicoot, as they were their close friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, the home to Miles 'Tails' Prower stood on a hill, with a fully working water mill seen outside of the building, while a two-tailed flag symbol fluttered gently in the cool spring breeze. As we venture inside the house, we could see a workshop from inside. At the moment, it was all tidy and clean, with not a single tool or robot part seen anywhere in sight. Tails certainly liked to be very well tidied and clean.

There was an open door however, leading to another room down below into a cellar of the house. And soon the small sounds of clickety clacking could be heard, along with the sound of a joyful yet clueless echidna's laughter could be heard from down below.

"Look at that steam engine go, Tails!" Knuckles could be heard saying, sounding like an excited child.

"I know, Knuckles..." Tails was heard saying, "It's a fun thing to do, watching a train running around on a model railway."

Inside the basement, Tails, Sticks and Knuckles were in the downstairs room, where the fox's beloved train set could be seen, with model British trains running on it, with two steam engines and a few diesel locos running around it. Knuckles was watching Tails' prized possession, the 60163 'Tornado' steam locomotive model, running across the beautifully detailed train set, pulling a rake of eight British Pullman coaches behind it, which had little lights shining from inside the miniature tables it had in it. The 'Tornado' steam engine model ran past a British Railways Class 37 diesel locomotive, which was pulling a goods train with trucks and box vans on it, with a break van seen on the back of it.

"Did you actually build this entire train set yourself, Tails?" Sticks asked, curiously, without being paranoid, as she overlooked the big railway set.

"I sure did!" Tails replied, smiling, "I built this whole railway myself set after I built my 'Mail Express' system for my 'Flying Scotsman' model to run on. The railway museum in town gave me some tips and facts on how to run and build a model railway system. And once I learned the tips and facts, I built this entire railway set."

"Well, even if I'm not very trustworthy in technology..." Sticks said, before smiling, "You're very smart in building model railways, Tails."

"Hey, thanks Sticks..." Tails said, smiling and blushing a little pink.

While Knuckles and Sticks continued to watch the model trains running around the hugely detailed railway set, Tails was working on his 'Bubble Blaster', which was a little fun gadget that could fire bouncy bubbles at an object or at a person, and it then traps them in an invulnerable bubble, which meant that the bubbly soap substance couldn't be popped by normal everyday sharp objects. Only a special needle built into the blaster can pop the bubbles, and set the object or person free.

Tails was almost finished building the latest design for it, but he was still looking for a wrench that he needed to finish it off. And finding a wrench was pretty much a really frustrating thing to do. Though thankfully, Tails wasn't easy to frustrate, though he does have a dark and powerful form if anyone messed with him.

"Hmm..." Tails said to himself, as he was searching for his wrench, "Where is my bolt tightening wrench?"

As he was trying to look for his wrench, Tails, Sticks and Knuckles didn't see that a familiar and beautiful yellow female vixen in a red dress and slippers came walking own into the basement, wearing a bright smile and red bracelets on her wrists. She had one fox tail, and she had blue eyes, just like Tails' eyes.

This girl was better known as Zooey, who was Tails' crush at one point, before she became his official girlfriend.

Zooey saw Sticks and Knuckles watching the model British trains running around the train set, before she looked at Tails, who was looking for his wrench. Smiling cutely, Zooey walked down the last two steps into the basement, before she quietly went over to her boyfriend, who was by now struggling to find the wrench he was looking for.

"Oh, where could it be?" Tails questioned to himself.

As Tails kept on looking on his small work bench, Zooey then saw a wrench that looked like a bolt tightening wrench. This could be the wrench that Tails was looking for. Picking it up, Zooey then walked over to see the fox, who had by now stopped looking for the wrench he needed for the Bubble Blaster.

"Is this the wrench you're looking for, Tails?" Zooey then spoke up, making Tails jump a bit.

Sticks and Knuckles turned their attention from the model trains, and turned to see Zooey with Tails. The badger and echidna were supportive of Tails' relationship with Zooey, even if their help to get the two together never worked very well, and they, along with Sonic and Amy, were oblivious to the fact that it was Doctor Eggman himself who had helped Tails win Zooey's heart.

Tails looked at the wrench Zooey was holding, and he instantly brightened up in enthusiasm. It was the exact same wrench that he was looking for.

"Yes, that's the wrench I need!" Tails said, gently taking the wrench from Zooey's hand, "Thank you, Zooey!"

"Hehe, you're welcome, Tailsy..." Zooey responded, grinning happily.

Tails smiled back in return, before he then quickly kissed his girlfriend on the cheek, and turned back to his Bubble Blaster and used the wrench Zooey found for him to screw in the last bolt to the gadget. Zooey was left giggling at bit at her boyfriend's sweet little gesture. Then, she kissed him on the cheek in return, which made Tails blush and giggle happily, feeling his love for Zooey melt his heart like always.

Just as he was doing this, and just as Sticks and Knuckles watched the 'Tornado' steam engine run around the set again with the goods train, Sonic and Amy then arrived, with the blue leader feeling quite a bit sad.

"Hey, Sonic!" greeted Knuckles, not seeing right away that the hedgehog looked rather depressed, just as Tails and Zooey then turned to see the two hedgehogs.

"Hi, big bro!" said Tails as he walked up to Sonic and noticed the cuts and bruises on him, "Oh, my goodness, what happened to you, Sonic?"

"He had a run in with a fruit stand," sighed Amy, "Apparently, he was daydreaming."

"Daydreaming? About what?" asked Zooey curiously.

Sonic sighed despondently. He didn't want to just spill out his daydreams about Mina in front of everyone, but, seeing how curious they all were, it seemed he had no choice.

"I saw these strange visions of Mina Mongoose," the hedgehog said sadly, though the mention of the pop star made Zooey gasp in excitement.

"Mina Mongoose!?" said Zooey excitedly, "The world-famous pop star!?"

Tails grabbed his first aid kit and started rubbing a soaked rag over Sonic's wounds. Sonic cringed a little from the pain he was going through on his body, but Amy did keep a comforting hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Why were you daydreaming about a pop star?" asked a confused Sticks, "Everyone knows who she is."

"And we LOVE her music!" added Knuckles.

"Well, ... let's just say that a few years ago, Mina used to live on this island, ... and ... we were very close," said Sonic slowly.

Several of his friends gasped in astonishment as they came to realize just what he meant with those words...

"You mean, ... you and Mina were friends!?" gasped Zooey.

"Wow! That's amazing!" shouted Knuckles eccentrically.

"Um, Knuckles, do you not remember Sonic and Mina being friends, or do you have serious short-term memory loss?" said Amy in annoyance of the echidna's failed memories, "You were there, too, you know?"

"Wait!? I was!?" gasped Knuckles.

Amy and Tails face-palmed in disgust.

"I didn't know Sonic and Mina were friends," said a surprised Sticks.

"We weren't just friends, though," sighed Sonic, and he paused for a moment as he tried to find the right words to say next.

Then, he blurted them out ...

"Mina and I were in love."

Knuckles, Sticks and Zooey gasped in amazement.

"Did you know this, Tails?" asked Zooey when she saw that Tails didn't react the same way they did.

"I was around to see so many moments of Sonic and Mina spending time together. She even cared for me at times when Sonic couldn't," explained Tails, "The three of us were starting to feel like a small, happy family, ... until ... she left."

"What happened?" asked Zooey.

Amy simply looked away. She didn't want to blurt anything out that she knew would get tons of backlash. And the reason being is because she had something to do with this backstory that she and Sonic could remember extremely well.

"I guess I might as well tell you guys about the time how I met Mina, and how we were so happy together, when we got together," said Sonic, giving a little bit of a sigh as he finished his speech, before adding, "During that time, it was long before we ever met Sticks or Zooey."

Knuckles, Sticks and Zooey simply looked at him like they couldn't wait for the story to begin, while Tails and Amy winked at Sonic to encourage him to tell the story. Everyone sat around the room, with Sonic sitting in the middle of the small circle.

"It all began about five years ago..." Sonic began to say, before...

"Oh wait! I remember now!" Knuckles exclaimed loudly, making everyone jump a bit, "I do remember that you and Mina were together!"

Everyone in the room just sighed irritably to themselves, as they knew that since they already established that little moment, it was pointless trying to tell Knuckles that he was in Sonic's backstory when Mina Mongoose was with Sonic. However, Sonic did just look bluntly to the red echidna and said...

"Yes Knuckles, I think we've just established that seconds ago..." Sonic said, before he cleared his throat, and said, "Anyways, as I was saying, it was about five years ago. I already had a little brother in Tails, and life was like the wind. But then, one day, something changed and filled an empty space in my heart..."

And that's when the backstory began, as we go back to five years into the past.

* * *

 _ **So yes, Sonic and Mina were once in love with each other, but that's only the beginning. What is to come is a love story filled with brightness and so much love, but also shadowed by dark, tragic circumstances. I hope this prologue has gotten you excited for the coming story!**_

 _ **COMING UP IN CHAPTER ONE: Sonic's story begins with the day he first set his eyes on Mina.**_

 _ **Sonic the Hedgehog and other characters (c) SEGA**_

 _ **Mina Mongoose (c) Archie**_


	2. Chapter 1: Rocket Start

**_CHAPTER 1_**

 ** _Rocket Start_**

* * *

As Sonic began to finally tell his backstory to his friends in the present time, the scene then changes into a much denser version of Hedgehog Village, which at the time was known as the 'Unnamed Village', which had pretty much became an infamous name by now.

A title then said, "Bygone Island - A Year Before Season One Started..."

It was a very quiet and relaxing spring day in the Unnamed Village, and not much had been going on back then, since the local community was only small and not as busy as it currently was. There were fewer villagers here, very few hut like buildings, and there was no town hall building to be seen. Though, one should take notice of the 'Town Hall', which was just built of sticks, wood and branches, because of the lack of funding at the time of that year.

Several familiar faces and villagers did live here, however, like Mike the Ox, Dave the Intern, Perci the Bandicoot and Fastidious Beaver. Though, people like Charlie or Lady Walrus had not yet been seen living in the town, as there weren't many homes or buildings built for anymore citizens at the moment, because as just mentioned before, the lack of money funding was the problem to this. So, this was definitely a small community, and until some funding could be made to build new homes, there was nothing that anyone could do.

Anyways, moving along, in the otherwise smaller community village, a familiar and speedy blue blur was racing across through the town, with a streak of blue aura flowing behind him as he ran. This was of course, Sonic the Hedgehog, who at this time, was 14 years old, and he looked a little bit different in appearance, as he ran along through the streets. He was on his way to see his best friend and sidekick, Miles 'Tails' Prower.

"Whew, man!" Sonic exclaimed, as he ran along, "There's nothing like a great run in the morning to freshen up the start of a brand new day! I wonder what Tails is doing today?"

As Sonic continued to run on, he at first raced past Knuckles the Echidna, who was 15 years old, and was oddly enough walking in a bit of a struggle, with chained steel ball clamps on his ankles. They weren't really heavy weights on his feet, but they were holding him down to slow walking for some reason. Why he was wearing these on the ankles of his shoes, we shall find out in a minute.

"Hey Sonic! Lovely day today!" Knuckles called, waving a hand to the speeding hedgehog, before walking on dragging the chains behind his feet.

Sonic looked back a bit and saw that Knuckles had steel chained balls clamped on his ankles, and at first, he thought it was an extremely strange thing for his friend to be doing. However, deciding to not question about it just yet, and turning back to face the path ahead of him to avoid colliding with anything in his way, Sonic raced on towards a hill, which was where Tails lived in a workshop on top of it.

On the hill, Tails' Workshop was quite close to the coastal cliffs, although it wasn't like it was dangling precariously on the edge of it, like in some silly comedy movie. No, the workshop was at a safe distance away from the cliff edge, and it was built in the middle of the hill that it was sitting on top of, with a small forest of trees standing behind the building, with a water mill in front of the building. A flag pole with Tails' signature twin tails on a flag was fluttering gently in the cool spring breeze.

Sonic raced up the hill and then slowed his paces down to a walk, as he came closer to his best friend's humble home.

"Breaking records everyday..." Sonic said, chuckling to himself, "Now, let's see what my little brother has been up to, today."

Though, when he came closer to the building, the hedgehog couldn't help but notice that the front door had been smashed to pieces and several bits of wood were on the ground a little bit scattered.

"Huh?" Sonic questioned, as he bent down and picked up a piece of broken door frame wood, "What the heck happened here? Did Tails accidentally blow the front door to pieces?"

Putting the piece of wood down again, Sonic took a careful and cautious walk into the building, seeing that the inside looked all tidy and clean, with nothing disastrous that has so far ever happened. So far, everything looked alright...

"Hey Ta... Arghhh!" Sonic said, before yelling...

... as he had just fallen into a small but pretty much broken piece of floorboard, which had made a hole in it, most likely caused by someone possibly running or jumping up and down on it. A tiny plume of grey dust flew into the air, as Sonic wearily stood up inside the hole.

Luckily for him though, Tails, who was about 6 years old and looking a bit more younger than the rest of his friends, walked from behind the table he was working on, and saw that his best friend had just fallen into the hole in the floorboards by his smashed doorway.

"Oh, hey Sonic!" Tails said, trying not to giggle at his big brother's predicament, "Why do you look so ... down?"

And before long, Tails was laughing up a bit of a storm at Sonic's little problem, placing his hands on his chest, while laughing with a tear in his eye, seeing as this has just made him laugh for once at a literal moment. Sonic, of course, was not easily amused, though he did put on a bit of a sarcastic smirk on his face. He quietly let out a small chuckle, but not enough to laugh at his own little predicament.

"Ha ha ha! Very funny, Tails!" Sonic replied, while sighing and changing the subject quickly, "What's going on with your floor? It's not normally like this?"

With the fox now calming down from his little laughing moment, Tails held out his hand and grabbed Sonic's hand, before helping him out of the hole in the floor. He even dusted his brother off with his twin tails, which did make Sonic almost sneeze at this point. Sonic shook himself off just a bit, as he faced Tails, who was now brushing off his tail.

"Well, who else could make a hole that big in my floorboards?" Tails asked, gesturing to the hole in the floor.

"Knuckles?" Sonic randomly guessed.

"Exactly..." Tails replied, nodding, "Knuckles made that hole in my floor. And you will not believe on how he did that."

"Why? What happened?" Sonic questioned, "And why was he wearing steel ball clamps on his ankles, when I ran past him?"

"Well..." Tails began, walking over to get his tool box, "It was only just yesterday that it happened. I was working on a new tablet called an 'Acceleration Pill''. which once taken with some water, it gives its user uncontrollable supersonic speed, similar to your ability."

"Really?" Sonic questioned, sounding a bit jealous, "What happened to it?"

"I was planning on testing it later in the week, but Knuckles kept asking me if it was a breath mint..." Tails continued, "And despite the fact that I kept telling him not to touch it, he went against my orders and before I could stop him, Knuckles took the 'Acceleration Pill' and swallowed it in one go. At first, nothing seemed to have happened, but once he went to open the door, the pill began taking effect and it made his legs spin extremely quickly, tearing up the floorboards in my home, and once he took off like a rocket, he uncontrollably smashed straight through the front door, and ran at 100mph all over Bygone Island."

Sonic just stood there, slightly stunned by this little tale. He knew that Knuckles could be a bit of an idiot, despite having great strength in the team, but hearing that the echinda had taken an Acceleration Pill, when he shouldn't have, which now made him run at similar speeds to his trademark ability, it just made the hedgehog feel a bit jealous of the Knuckles Rocket.

"Wow..." Sonic said, placing a hand on his side, "That some crazy take there, Tails. No wonder why I heard the townsfolk saying those rumors about a second person running at the speed of lightning."

"More like the 'Fastest Idiot Alive'..." Tails corrected, sighing as he walked to the hole in the floorboard with his toolbox, "It's going to take me a while to fix these floorboards and door frame. Though hopefully, it shouldn't take me too long, since I'm very skilled in DIY."

"So, how did you manage to get the steel ball clamps on his ankles, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"I had to ask Amy to help me set up a bit of a speed trap for Knuckles, just yesterday..." Tails explained, "So, while we had to wait for the Knuckles Rocket to reach its final destination, Amy got a long and thick piece of rope which was perfectly designed for tripping up speedy runners. Once we tripped Knuckles up and he fell onto the ground, his legs stopped moving and while Amy had to hold him down, I had to clamp on the chained ball clamps onto this ankles. The weight of the steel ball clamps keep him from taking off, though if he takes them off, and starts running, he almost becomes an unstoppable express."

"So, when do the effects of your 'Acceleration Pill' wear off on Knuckles?" Sonic questioned to Tails.

"Well, that's the reason I was going to test it in the next week..." Tails replied, using a measuring tape, "I have no idea on when the effects of that pill wear off. So, Knuckles will be rivaling your speed for quite some time, Sonic."

"Oh, how wonderful..." Sonic said, sighing in annoyance, "Not only Knuckles has the muscle in the team, but he's now the second fastest thing alive. I just hope he can control his running problems."

"As long as he wears those steel ball chains on his ankles, or if he is just standing still without them on, then he should be fine..." Tails said, as he finished using the measuring tape, and got out a hammer from his toolbox.

Nodding, Sonic watched as Tails began working on the hole in the floor. Feeling that he could do nothing else at the moment, Sonic carefully stepped over the hole, and he walked out through the smashed door. He felt like taking another run would help him from getting too restless and bored.

"I'll go take a quick run around the island, Tails..." Sonic said, running a hand across the side of his head, "I'll keep my eyes open for both Ol' Eggman and the Knuckles Rocket along the way."

"Roger that, Sonic..." Tails responded, "Knuckles is on his way to the town hall to see Mayor Fink. Call me on the Wrist Communicator if there is any trouble, and I'll have the Tornado ready for take off."

"Will do..." Sonic said, as the two brothers quickly fist bumped.

To save anymore damage being done to the doorway, Sonic walked a little away from the workshop, until he was at a safe distance away, before he took off at speed, with his trademark blue aura trailing behind. Once he was gone, Tails gave a small smile to himself, as he started working on fixing up his floorboard and door frame.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the quiet village, the 'Town Hall' could be seen in the far back center of the town, which was built with only sticks, branches and wood. The town's small fried mayor, who was the ironically named Mayor Fink, was in his 'office', writing on a document letter, using a policeman's back as a writing desk, while using a quill feather pen and ink to write his letter.

"Sir, if I may ask..." said the police officer, who was a beaver, "Are you almost finished with writing your important letter for the neighboring town?"

"I'm almost done, Reginald..." Mayor Fink responded, somewhat impatient, "Don't rush me, please. It's hard enough that I can't afford to buy any proper pens at the moment. Not until we find a suitable funding loan from somewhere that can help build a proper building than this molding shack."

"Of course, Sir..." Reginald replied, as the beaver silently moaned from his back pain, "Who's going to send that letter to that other town for you? Sonic?"

"Nope..." Fink simply replied, "Knuckles will. I called him, via messenger pigeon."

Outside, speaking of the echidna, Knuckles was passing by the small number of citizens who lived in the small town, with the steel ball clamps on his ankles, rattling behind him, as they dragged along to keep him from taking off at speed. One or two bystanders only stared at him, as Knuckles walked along, panting a little bit from the steel ball clamps on his ankles being dragged along.

"Man!" Knuckles whined, "When Tails said I had to wear these clamps on my feet, I didn't think he meant it in this way! It's putting some serious drag on me!"

At last, Knuckles, with heavy drag on his feet, finally arrived at the ramshackle town hall, where Mayor Fink was just about finished writing his quill pen on the letter that he had been working on for the other town. When Fink saw Knuckles coming inside the 'office', wearing the steel ball clamps on his ankles, he wasn't very impressed, to say the least.

"Sorry I'm late, Fink..." Knuckles said, wiping some sweat off his forehead, "But these steel ball clamps are really heavy to keep my legs down."

"So I see..." Mayor Fink replied, bluntly, before wrapping his letter with a rubber band, and handing it to Knuckles, "Now, take this to the neighboring town across the jungle. To the mayor of that town. It's about a meeting for the terms of asking for a funding loan for our town. Send that letter to them as fast as you can."

Knuckles took the rolled up letter, and gave a smile of determination. But he then questioned to the mayor about the town he was talking about.

"You mean the Gogobas Tribe Village, sir?" Knuckles questioned.

"No, no, not that one..." Fink replied, shaking his head, "Only two idiots in the future would dare go to that village of the Gogobas. They'll never let you leave. Anyway, I mean take that to the seaside village of 'Emerald Coast'. They have a mayor there. So, get that letter to them, my good fellow."

(Get ready for a movie reference. Guess the movie in the comments box below)

"Right away, sir!" Knuckles said, making a salute.

With his first message delivery set, Knuckles reached down to his ankles and unclipped the two steel ball clamps on them, setting his legs free from the weight that has been dragging him down to a heavy, slow pace. As the echidna turned around, his legs juddered from the energy of the 'Acceleration Pill' that he mistakenly ate from Tails' Workshop.

It was time for the Knuckles Rocket to launch.

Hopping up for a brief bit, Knuckles began to start running, but for some reason he wasn't even moving yet. A dust cloud formed behind him, as his accelerated powered legs started spinning faster, in a similar fashion to Sonic. His feet, however, were not even helping him move. Instead, they were actually running into the ground, causing it to be churned up with grass and mud.

Knuckles continued to move his arms back and forth, while keeping a tight grip on the letter in his hand, panting heavily as he tried to start running. His hyperactive feet then began digging into the ground, creating another hole, as dirt and grass started flying backwards where the dust cloud was forming behind. Knuckles unknowingly sank slower in the ground, until he stopped sinking and continued spinning his legs like if his life depended upon it.

Mayor Fink and Reginald the Policeman could only watch in utter silence, as their messenger was causing quite the chaos with his feet. Knuckles was still trying to run, as more grass and dirt flew behind the hole he was digging with his own feet. But then, as the speeding legs made a jet engine like sound, Knuckles was struggling to stand still while on the move, as he was nod finally ready to launch ...

... literally.

"Urrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh..." Knuckles could be heard saying, before ...

*BOOM!*

"... AAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

... he took off with a massive launch, running at full charge from the 'Acceleration Pill', leaving behind a huge dust cloud in Reginald and Fink's faces, causing them to shield their eyes from the dust, as Knuckles took off from the 'town hall', leaving behind a huge hole in the ground from where he was running into the ground.

As Knuckles ran off like crazy, Reginald and Mayor Fink rushed outside to see where the flying running messenger had gotten to, and when they looked outside, they could see him running through the town.

"Yaaaarrrrgghhhhhhhh!" Knuckles hollowed loudly, as he sped through town, nearly knocking anyone in his path down, and leaving behind a dust cloud, as he disappeared from the town and into the right side of the jungle.

Fink and Reginald just watched in stunned silence, as their messenger raced away, his hollow echoing through the village, until it faded away. Fink just sighed and rubbed his hand against his head, while Reginald folded his arms across together on his chest.

"Sir, do you think it was wise to have Knuckles as your fast running messenger?" Reginald questioned.

"Um... I... I don't know, anymore..." Fink replied, feeling a little shaken from Knuckles' launching sequence, "I just hope... the Emerald Coast Town... will negotiate with the funding loan."

With a still slightly shaken sigh, Mayor Fink walked back to his makeshift desk, and sat down, while Reginald the Policeman walked outside into the town to keep an eye on things, until the mayor needed his assistance again.

* * *

Elsewhere, while Knuckles was on his speedy running messenger service, Sonic was by now running across the jungles of the island. Since he was now out of the village, at least he could finally go full speed ahead and not slow down for any pedestrians or obstacles. It was much better with a clear path ahead for Sonic to run on.

Though sometimes, the blue hedgehog could loose focus on where he was going.

"Since Tails is going to be a while rebuilding his floor and door frame, I wonder where I should go to, without the Knuckles Rocket getting in the way?" Sonic wondered to himself, "It's not like the past places like Windy Hill are getting old or anything, but I just can't get myself to go to those places that much anymore."

In the many times that Sonic had been on adventures, he would usually visit Green Hill or Emerald Hill, though those places really seemed to be quite in the pasture now, and while many others places were still around for Sonic to run and explore them, they just didn't quite have that feeling to them anymore. And besides that, Doctor Eggman's consistent attacks on Bygone Island made it difficult for him to spend too much time away from the village, and run off to new places to explore.

However, just as Sonic was about to think about where he would go next, an unfamiliar sound of someone singing caught into his ear's attention. It sounded like a heavenly singing voice too.

"Huh?" Sonic questioned, hearing the singing, before slowing himself down and coming to a complete stop.

"Who in the world would be singing on a dense jungle island like this?" Sonic asked himself quietly, as he began walking to investigate the singing.

Sonic quietly walked along the trees and bushes in the jungle, following the sound of where the singing was coming from. The only person that he knows that sings to herself sometimes is Amy Rose, although when she sings, it makes her sound like a weasel with a clarinet stuck in its throat, doubling itself as a giraffe in reality.

Anyways, Sonic got closer and closer to the area where the singing was coming from. The person who was singing was definitely the sound of a girl singing. Sonic could tell it was a girl singing, by the sound of her voice.

"Whoever's singing in this jungle, has a beautiful voice, I will admit..." Sonic thought, making a small smile to himself, "But it might probably be a young girl learning to sing."

However, his thoughts on that were proven wrong, when Sonic got to a nearby tree and peaked around from behind it. And the moment that the blue hedgehog took a look at who was singing, his whole world then almost came crashing down, as he gasped silently at what he saw next.

In the clearing where a small cottage stood alone in the middle of the jungle, a female yellow mongoose could be seen, with beautiful purple hair flowing behind her, with some yellow seen on the lower sides of the hair. The girl moved her hair around in slow motion, as she was singing to herself, and this made Sonic feel dazed by her appearance.

"W-Whoa..." Sonic said, quietly to himself, as he felt a warm feeling come into him, "Wh... W-What a beautiful m-mongoose."

The mongoose was wearing two gold ear rings in her right ear, she had a black vest with a purple neck collar on it, while her skirt was purple with black lines on it. Her long gloves were white on one side with green on the other side, while some small bits of green sports tape could be seen on her arms just where the sleeve of the gloves were at. Her legs also a bit of green sports tape, as her shoes were purple with green lines on it, with a grey sole to them.

And just like Sonic, the mongoose's eyes were emerald green, with a small sparkle to them. On her sides of her skirt, the girl had an iPhone like device on one side, while the other side had a microphone on it. The girl looked just about 15 years old, just the same age as Knuckles to be exact, so she was just about one year older than Sonic.

As the girl was singing to herself with a beautiful voice that sounded like an angel, all Sonic could do was stare in wonder, as he was feeling somewhat mesmerized by this beautiful mongoose that he had never met before. The warm feeling that was in his chest was becoming a little more warmer, and it even chase his heart beat to thump on his chest a little bit.

Noticing this, Sonic looked confusingly at his slightly beating chest, fearing that he might draw attention to himself. But despite placing a hand on it, his heart beat continued to thump, as if ...

... if he was falling ... in love?

"H-Hey! S-Stop it!" Sonic quietly said, trying to stop his beating chest.

It felt strange for Sonic, as his heart never heated in his chest whenever he was around girls like Amy or Perci, because he currently had no romantic interest in them or any other girls. But for this one young mongoose girl, this was definitely very strange for the blue hedgehog.

But then, as Sonic tried to make his mysteriously beating chest stop, the young mongoose girl took notice of the sound of someone speaking to their self, and stopped singing, thinking that someone was possibly spying on her.

"Hello?" She called out, though not seeing anyone, "Is somebody there?"

Feeling a little nervous, the girl was about to walk over to see who was watching her ...

... until ...

"Yes, there is somebody out there!" A familial and evil sounding voice exclaimed, which made the girl turn around and catching Sonic's attention.

"And that somebody is me!" The person added, who is then recalled to be non other than, Doctor Eggman, Team Sonic's arch enemy.

Hearing the voice of his enemy, Sonic took himself away from his chest, which had thankfully stopped thumping as soon as he saw Eggman, who was hovering in his Egg Mobile, with a strange looking capsule hanging from beneath the egg shaped flying saucer. The mongoose girl gasped in horror, as the doctor stared down at her with a devious smirk on his face.

"Eggman!" Sonic exclaimed, as he stepped out from behind the tree, though oddly enough, Eggman didn't see him.

"W-Who are y-you?!" The girl asked, shaking a bit in fear.

"I am Doctor Eggman..." Eggman responded, doing a bow, before saying, "And I have just found my next victim for... robotization!"

And just as the young mongoose gasped in fright, Eggman pressed a button and dropped the cage trap down onto the mongoose, which immediately trapped her into the cage, leaving only a window for the girl to look out of. But luckily, this was just merely a prison cage capsule, meaning that this was not one of robotization.

"N-No!" The mongoose exclaimed, as tears came into her eyes, while banging her hands on the unbreakable window, "I don't want to become a robot!"

"Eggman!" Sonic yelled in a tone of anger, as he sped out into the open, catching both the mongoose and Eggman's attention, "Let that young girl go, right now!"

"Ahh, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Eggman said, in a somewhat sarcastic manner, "How nice of you to drop in. Well, technically, you would have to fall out of the sky to drop in unannounced... but that's besides the point! It's a pity you won't be able to rescue this pathetic little girl, because she's going to become my first robot in the awesome Eggman Empire!"

Sonic gave a growl of slight anger in response, before he rushed to the prison capsule, and tried to wrench the door off to try and free the mongoose girl. But no matter how hard he tried, Sonic didn't have the strength necessary to get the door off.

"Help me!" The girl cried to the blue hedgehog, "Please!"

"I'm trying!" Sonic replied, before ...

*BBBTTZZZ!*

"Arghh!" Sonic yelled in pain ...

... as he was suddenly electrocuted with a small but powerful blast of an electricity shield from the capsule, which while it didn't kill him, it did make him feel temporary limp, as he fell back onto the ground, fidgeting a little bit, just as Eggman was heard laughing evilly, while he carried off the prison capsule on his Egg Mobile, with the mongoose girl watching in horror, as she was taken away.

"No!" The mongoose shouted, in desperation, "Somebody please help me!"

Sonic groaned as he shook off the last bit of the electric shock that he had just taken, before he looked up, only to see the girl he was mesmerized by a few moments ago was taken away by his arch enemy. Growling a bit with clenched teeth, Sonic clutched his fists, as he was now feeling determined to save this girl from being made into a robot by Eggman.

"Don't worry!" Sonic called out to her, "I'll come to your rescue, and have you freed in no time!"

The mongoose tearfully looked at the blue hedgehog and placed a hand on the window, as she stared at him, before Eggman flew away with the capsule on his Egg Mobile heading for his Island Fortress.

With a determined look on his face, Sonic then quickly tapped the button on his Wrist Communicator, knowing the person to call to help him rescue the girl he had admired for just a few seconds, which also made his heart beat in his chest mysteriously.

"Tails! Do you hear me?" Sonic asked, talking to the Wrist Communicator, as he began running back the way he came from earlier.

After waiting a few seconds, Tails picked up the call.

"Hey Sonic..." Tails was heard saying, "What's up?"

"Trouble pal..."Sonic replied, "I just came across this female mongoose, before she was taken away by Eggman! I tried to save her, but the pod Eggman trapped her in zapped me, allowing him to get away! He's going to roboticize her!"

Tails could be heard gasping in horror at hearing that awful word. Just the thought of being turned into a robot and losing one's free will was just awful!

"That's terrible, Sonic!" Tails said, his voice sounding a bit horrified, "What are we going to do?"

"Get the Tornado ready when I arrive at the workshop, Tails..." Sonic responded, "We're going on a rescue mission to save that mongoose from being made into a robot!"

"Roger that, Sonic!" Tails said, "I'll get the Tornado ready right now!"

"Great!" Sonic said, "I'll be over there as quick as I can! But we have to hurry!"

Switching the Wrist Communicator off, Sonic then made a small burst of energy, as he ran faster than he ever did in his life, with his trademark blue aura flowing behind him, as his determination to save the mongoose girl was becoming more of a mission for him.

Though he still didn't know why his heart thumped in his chest, when he watched her singing to herself earlier. Normally, he wouldn't have any romantic interest in girls, apart from the one off flirting with them. But with this girl he had seen being taken away by Eggman, Sonic felt strangely different towards her. It felt like he was taking a real liking to this girl.

Could Sonic be possibly falling in love? For the very first time?

With no other things in his mind apart from the girl he wanted to rescue, Sonic raced through the jungle to get to Tails' Workshop, and begin his rescue mission with his sidekick helping him out.

* * *

 ** _Sonic may have gotten his first glimpse at the mongoose, but it was abruptly cut short. Now, their only hope is a rescue mission that could save her from potentially becoming one of Eggman's mechanical slaves!_**

 _ **COMING UP IN CHAPTER TWO: Sonic and Tails set off on a mission to rescue the mongoose from Eggman.**_


	3. Chapter 2: Rescue Mission

**_CHAPTER 2_**

 ** _A Rescue Mission_**

* * *

Continuing to run at full speed through the jungle, Sonic was wearing a determined look on his face, as he wanted to rescue the girl that he had just daydreamed about before she was captured by Doctor Eggman.

"Darn you, Egg-Face!" Sonic said to himself, as he ran through the jungle, "If you dare turn that innocent mongoose into one of your robots, I'll make sure that I kick you teeth out with my foot, and dispose of whatever remains of them into a recycle bin!"

Although Sonic was quite angry at Eggman for kidnapping an innocent person and wanting to turn them into a robot through a dangerous machine, the blue hedgehog was thankfully not one to lose his temper, so it was really rare to see him get angry at anyone. However, what he doesn't know is that someone at some point later in his life will one day make him loose his temper or possibly get him angry, over something that he will not like.

Taking a sigh, Sonic got the anger out of his head and replaced it with determination that he and Tails would rescue the female mongoose from the evil hands of Doctor Eggman.

The mongoose that he had tried to rescue was one of the most beautiful girls that he had ever seen in his life. Normally, he wasn't one for romance, apart from the occasional and playful flirting, such as sometimes trying to act cool with Perci, but this mongoose girl that he met in the jungle gave him a different and warm feeling inside of his heart.

And right now, it was just giving him those strange yet warm feelings inside his chest once again, as he ran along the jungle path.

"T-That girl..." Sonic thought, as he ran on, "That mongoose was... b-beautiful. Her colorful flowing hair, and her eyes were... g-green, like mine. And her voice... her singing voice was just absolutely wonderful and beautiful. I've never heard a singing voice like that before on this island. But why does she make my heart thump on my chest?"

Sonic thought about this strange feeling in his body for a few seconds, before he shook it off quickly, knowing that it was not the time for thinking about these strange feelings, when the girl that he met was now in danger.

"Ugh! I've got to stop thinking about these strange feelings and speed things up!" Sonic said to himself, as he raced past the trees, heading for Tails' Workshop.

While Sonic was running at high speed through the jungle, inside his workshop, Tails was running into his large garage like workshop, where his beloved airplane, which was named the 'Tornado', was sitting inside the large room. It was painted dark blue and it had two side seats on it, with two small propellers sitting on the front wings. This airplane was discovered on one of Team Sonic's crazy adventures, and so Tails decided to take it with him to use for the team in future use, such as this forthcoming rescue mission.

"Hello there, old friend..." Tails said to the plane, giving a bit of a smile, as he placed an earphone communication piece on his ear, "It's time to start you up for a rescue mission."

Using his twin tails to lift himself into the air for a brief moment, Tails hovered over the over side of the Tornado, and sat himself down into the pilot's seat of the plane, and strapped in a safety belt in the chair, before pressing a few buttons on the dashboard of the plane. The engine started up and the small blue propellers were beginning to spin around, as the plane made a quiet yet lightly growling sound in its engine.

"Alright, let's see..." The six-year old fox said to himself, checking over the status of the plane, "Fuel is full to the brim, good. The propellers are working at 100%, excellent. The engine has plenty of oil in it, very nice. Landing gear is operational, great. And the wings are perfectly straight and the plane itself is all nice and clean. Alright! All is good to go, once Sonic arrives!"

Looking at his Wrist Communicator, Tails pressed a button on it, which then made the garage like doors open, showering the workshop with the bright sunlight from outside in the clear blue sky. It certainly was a very beautiful spring day today, to say the least.

Then, moving a gear stick forward, Tails slowly and carefully moved the Tornado out of the workshop, through the opened doors of his workshop, and brought it outside on the hill, where a runway like launch pad was seen at the edge of the cliff. An orange sock like slag was seen fluttering from a small pole at the end of the runway ramp, as most airports in the world have this sock flag stationed at the runways.

"Blue Leader, this is Yellow Sky..." Tails said, speaking into his earphone mic piece, "I have the Tornado ready and waiting outside my home. Just waiting for you to arrive, and then we can begin the rescue mission."

"Thanks, Tails!" Sonic could be heard responding through the headphone, "I'm almost there! Be ready to take off once I arrive at your location! We don't know what Eggman could do to that girl!"

"10-4, Sonic..." Tails replied, smiling, "Standing by for your arrival."

While Tails waited for his best friend to arrive to start their rescue mission, in the town, there were not many people seen walking around the village, because as said before for the last time, the money funding problems that Mayor Fink was going through prevented him from building anymore or any new huts and buildings for the town, as well as not having enough money to build a proper town hall. But one things for sure, at least it was quiet today.

Amy Rose, who was about 11 years old, was seen walking around town, holding her trustworthy hammer that just appears from nowhere at random times. Without her hammer in battles, Amy would believe herself to be useless or unhelpful, because if she was parted from her hammer for too long, then she would have a bit of a nervous breakdown.

Anyways, Amy was walking around with her hammer in hand, looking for Sonic, whom she secretly had a crush on. She didn't tell him about this though, as she wanted to keep it a secret, and be cautious about it, at least until she could one day muster the courage to admit her admiration for the blue hedgehog.

How long will that take? Well, probably about 20 years from now, at least.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy asked to herself, in concern, "I haven't seen him, since this morning when he went out for a run. Unless he's trying to compete for the Bygone Island Running Tournament next month, I just hope he returns soon. I want to try and ask him out to the 'Bygone Island Dance Under The Stars Event', tonight."

You heard that right, despite the money problems, there was an event going on, tonight, which was a 'Dance Under The Stars' event that was taking place for one night only. The event was that people, either on their own or with a partner, could dance under an anticipated starry night sky in the village, although the event was being set inside of a building. The proceeds of this one night event was to help raise money for charity, although despite Mayor Fink's insistence that the money should be raised for the town funding problems instead of charity, by 'his suggestion', none of the people in the town listened to him, and they chose charity over his 'suggestion'.

Why nobody was aware of Fink's greedy attempts of using others' money for the town funding is unknown. Most likely because they haven't taken any notice.

Anyways, Amy was walking and looking for Sonic, feeling a bit nervous about asking her secret crush to the dance. If there was one thing that she had hoped to do all week, is to dance with Sonic at least for one time.

Then, the pink hedgehog suddenly spotted a familiar blue blur racing through the trees and speeding for the main town. This meant that Sonic was hurdling towards the village at high speed, and Amy knew instantly that this could possibly be her chance to ask Sonic the one question about the dance tonight.

"There he is!" Amy said quietly, to herself, "Ok, now just be calm, Amy. Don't make any awkward movements. This is just Sonic."

However, just as Amy cleared her throat, about ready to ask Sonic her important question, Sonic was going so fast that he failed to notice her standing in front of him, and he raced straight past her like a lightning bolt. Although the force of Sonic's speed did cause Amy to get spun around like a top, making her feel dizzy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Amy exclaimed, as her spinning slowly stopped, leaving her stumbling in a dazed manner.

But then, as Amy stopped spinning and tried to shake off the dizziness in her head, she was then passed by another speed demon, in which case it was the Knuckles Rocket, where the red muscular echidna was just returning to town, with a new rolled up letter in his hand, as he raced right past Amy, making her spin around in dizziness once again.

"Aaahhhhhh!" Amy screamed, as she was spun around again, making her more dizzy.

"Rocket Messenger, coming through!" Knuckles could be heard saying, as he raced away at high speed towards the ramshackle 'town hall'.

While Knuckles was racing into town with the message in hand, Amy finally stopped spinning around for good. She almost felt sick from the spinning cycle, as she was not quite used to very fast people going on past her, nor was she used to having anyone spinning her around. It certainly made her feel dizzy.

In fact, she was so dizzy that she couldn't even remember what she was going to do next. The world felt like a carousel ride spinning in slow motion, with children's laughter being heard in the background.

"Actually, I'll ask Sonic later..." Amy said, clutching her spinning head, "I think I need to lie down first."

With a bit of a dizzy stumbling about on her unsteady feet, Amy walked away to her pink hut home, a bit unsteadily and uneasily. Stars flew around her head, as she tried to keep her balance and keep in a straight line. Several people watched her from the sidelines, as Amy walked into town unbalanced.

While Amy went to lie down for a bit, Sonic was now approaching Tails' Workshop, as he then raced up the hill where Tails was waiting with the Tornado. As he ran up the hill at full speed, Tails took notice of Sonic's presence, as he started the engine back up on the plane.

It was time for their rescue mission to start.

"Okay, Tails, I'm here!" Sonic said, feeling determined, "Now, let's get to Eggman's Island Fortress, and rescue that mongoose girl!"

"Roger that, Sonic!" Tails replied, nodding, "Hop in! I'll have the two of us on his Island Fortress in less than five minutes!"

Nodding, Sonic jumped into the co-pilot's seat next to Tails, and clipped his seat belt on, as the six year old fox placed his goggles over his eyes and shifted the gear stick on the Tornado forwards, making the plane propellers rotate and making the plane move towards the launch ramp up ahead.

As the Tornado picked up some speed, the engine sound was sounding more louder. After some more seconds, Tails and Sonic braces themselves, as they approached air speed, before taking off from the launch pad, with the Tornado now flying away from the workshop, and heading over the town.

"Tornado is flying at 100% today, Sonic..." Tails said, "I checked over her, while I was waiting for you to arrive."

"Good, Tails..." Sonic responded, nodding, "Let's keep your plane in good condition and get to Eggman's lair."

Nodding, Tails turned back to flying his plane.

While Tails focused on flying his precious plane, Sonic was once again thinking about the mongoose girl. This time, the warm feeling was in his chest again, but the heart thumping thing was not happening. He was just really determined to rescue this girl and prevent Eggman from turning her into a terrible robot for his Eggman Empire.

"I just hope we're not too late..." Sonic thought, "That beautiful mongoose is too young to be a mechanical robot. We've got to save her."

With nothing more said, the brotherly duo flew away in the Tornado, heading from the town on Bygone Island, to the Island Fortress that was the home and lair of Doctor Eggman. Hopefully, their rescue mission will be successful, and they would hopefully rescue the mongoose girl before it was too late.

* * *

Elsewhere, Knuckles was now back with Mayor Fink and Reginald the Policeman. The fast echidna messenger had just nearly made a collision crash course with the makeshift desk, but thankfully, the large hole that he left in the ground when he took out, somehow managed to make him come to a complete stop.

While that may have been a close call to crashing into the desk, it did allow Knuckles to get close to his steel ball clamps for his ankles.

And trust me, when Knuckles almost collided with Fink and Reginald, the mayor screamed like a little girl when Knuckles looked like he could crash right into him. At least, Knuckles brought back the message from the mayor of the seaside village Emerald Coast on the other end of the jungle.

Right now, Knuckles was placing his clamps back on his ankles to keep himself from taking off all over the place like a crazed lunatic. He then gave Reginald the rolled up message, who in turn, gave it to Fink.

"Alright sir..." Knuckles said, clamping his legs down, "I've brought back the reply to your message from the mayor of Emerald Coast. I'm not sure if you will like the reply he wrote, but we'll only find out once you read it."

"No, it's not we'll find out... I'll find out..." Fink said, giving a bit of an annoyed glare to the echidna, "Now, get lost. I'll call you if I need another message sent with your super speed."

Normally, when people were told to get lost by a rude person, the more nicer person would just tell them to shut up or just say no. It was the usual and common response for someone to say or do, but since Knuckles was not really all that of a smart person to think about a comeback, he just nodded his head and made another salute to the small runt.

"Just call me when you need another message sent!" Knuckles said, before turning to walk away ...

... once again dragging the steel ball clamps behind on his ankles to keep him from taking off all over the place and to slow him down. Grunting in slight irritation, Knuckles left the ramshackle wooden 'town hall', dragging his leg iron weights behind him on his ankles.

"Darn it, Tails..." Knuckles muttered to himself, as he struggled while walking away, with the weights slowing him down.

Rolling his eyes, Mayor Fink took the rubber band off the rolled up piece of paper, and unraveled it to take a look at the message of reply from the mayor of Emerald Coast. The small fry man was hoping for a good piece of luck to be written on the reply. Reginald stood by Fink's side, over looking on the rolled up paper.

Fink finally looked at the message, which said the only three following words:

"No chance, cheapskate." - Signed the Mayor of Emerald Coast.

Mayor Fink just stared at the letter in stunned silence for a few seconds, before he sighed in frustration, crumpled up the message in his hands and tossed it into a dustbin, which was full of many other messages which refused to give the cheapskate mayor any money to fund for the town or the hall.

It's just a bit ironic that the Mayor of Emerald Coast would call him a cheapskate, as the two mayors most likely didn't have a good history in the past together. And there must've been some sort of slight ongoing feud between the two, because these two guys must've been different from one another to run two different towns on this island.

"Cheapskate! Unbelievable!" Fink muttered to himself, angrily, "One day, that Old Jerry will soon see that I can run a town with proper facilities and a smart town hall building, just as soon as I can get money for them."

"Uh, sir?" Reginald questioned, "Why not just borrow some money from the bank in this town? Surely, you can borrow some money from there?"

Fink just then blanks looked up to Reginald with a 'seriously?' look on his face. How could this little man just borrow money from the Unnamed Village Bank?

He practically runs all the buildings in the village, yet he cannot borrow money from it, as the other villagers would need to use the bank to use for withdrawals and bank account loans, just as well as paying their rent and water bills with money.

"Reginald..." Fink said, sighing, "Do me a favor and be quiet, please? I can't possibly borrow money from the bank. I run the bank."

Nodding, but feeling somewhat slightly confused by this response, Reginald did what the mayor requested and kept silent, as Fink went to use his quill pen to write on some paper in ink.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Doctor Eggman...

In Eggman's Island Fortress, the evil doctor had by now taken the girl he had kidnapped from the forest into his laboratory, where the mongoose girl had been strapped to a machine that the evil scientist had intended to use her in. She tried her hardest to break free, but the machine clamped her in tightly so she couldn't move. Tears of fear streamed from her eyes as she begged that this wouldn't be the end of her.

This girl had too much to live for than to be a terrifying mechanical robot, which was made to take away her free will and follow everyone of Eggman's commands.

"And now, the time has come! You, my dear, are about to become the first of one of my mechanical slaves!" announced Eggman, who laughed maniacally, as he stepped into the room with Orbot and Cubot accompanying him.

"WHAT!?" the mongoose screamed in horror, "NO! I don't want to become a robot! I'm too young to be a robot!"

"Oh, ho, ho!" laughed Eggman, "But don't you realize that being a robot can be exciting!? There's the fact that you cannot die! Unless, of course, someone had the nerve to blast you into a million pieces. Oh, whatever! Anyways, you will have the rare pleasure of becoming an everlasting mechanical being!"

"NOOOO!" cried the mongoose as she tried once again in vain to free herself from the machine, "SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO BE A ROBOT!"

"Too late, little girl!" replied Eggman as he stepped in front of the control panel, "Once I press this button, your time will come to become one of mine, and there's nothing that anybody can do about it!"

Then, just as Eggman was about to press his finger against the button that would start up the roboticizer, the door to the room suddenly banged open, and the two turned and saw a blue hedgehog staring at Eggman with an angry glare, as was the yellow two-tailed fox that stood beside him.

"Not if I have anything to say about that!" Sonic roared.

Eggman huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms while he stared down at his two archenemies.

"Well, well, well, look who it is!" Eggman said, in a sarcastic, yet angered tone, "It's none other than the blue pineapple and his yellow two-tailed fur ball, who have come to save the day!"

"We'll make you eat those words, Egg Face!" shouted Tails.

"Well, I beg to differ!" Eggman hissed back, "Once I've turned this pathetic girl into one of my first robot slaves, she'll have you eliminated within no time at all! You so t stand a chance!"

Hearing Eggman saying about turning the mongoose girl into a robot and then have her eliminate him and Tails, made Sonic's blood boil. There was just absolutely no way that Eggman was going to turn this innocent girl into a robot. Absolutely NO way!

"Let her go, NOW!" demanded Sonic, clenching his fist in anger.

At that moment, a horde of Motobugs and Buzzbots came swarming into the room like an army, apparently having been drawn in by Sonic's shouting.

"Ah, yes! Just in time to help me finish off these two pests!" said a satisfied Eggman, "ATTACK!"

"Psst! Sonic!" whispered Tails as he noticed the mongoose strapped in the roboticizer, "What do we do!?"

Sonic punched and kicked several robots that had charged at them, and he whispered back, "I'll deal with the robots and keep Eggman distracted."

One motobug aimed at Tails, but the fox managed to react quicker and swing his monkey wrench at it to take it out.

"Yes! I get that!" the fox said, still not understanding Sonic's plan.

"You go and save the girl from the machine, and take her to the Tornado as quickly as you can. I'll catch up with you once I'm finished here," finished Sonic.

"Roger that, Sonic!" answered Tails, now understanding the plan in their rescue mission, and he spun his twin tails and flew over the Motobugs and Buzzbots, before running to the roboticizer.

"Come get some!" screamed Sonic as he finally made his first real charge at Eggman's robots, taking several of them out with one charge.

Inside the roboticizer, the mongoose girl noticed Tails running right up to the machine. She could only assume that he was the hedgehog's sidekick whom had come to assist in rescuing her.

"Help me, please!" The scared mongoose begged, struggling in her trap.

"Don't worry, ma'am!" Tails assured, "We'll have you out of this thing in no time!"

With that, the two tailed fox got to work in disabling the machine any way he could. If there was one thing that Tails was best at besides flying, then it was fixing or sabotaging machines.

Sonic, on the other hand, was on a robot rampage, taking down robot after robot with every move he had. In just a few seconds, the army had been cut in half. Eggman simply pouted in disgust as he watched his army being taken down easily.

"You never know when to quit, do you!?" he pouted.

"Yeah, well, neither do you!" retorted Sonic as he dodged an attack and punched the attacking robot, "You're even worse when it comes to never quitting!"

"Well, how do you expect an evil genius to quit!?" argued Eggman, "He just hangs up his coat and walks into a random retirement home?!"

While Eggman was distracted by Sonic's fast moving reflexes and destruction of his small army of Buzzbots and Motobugs, Tails had managed to open a metal plate in the roboticizer, and inside he found the wiring that connects the machine into various places.

"Bingo!" Tails chuckled, and he ripped out the wires and cogs.

Within an instant, sparks came pouring out of the roboticizer as it malfunctioned and died down. The mongoose girl heard the machine powering down, and she could only gasp in relief, as the tears on her cheeks were seen shimmering from the slight crying that she had been through. She had almost lost her free will, if not for these brave heroes coming to her rescue.

Eggman had seen this, and he roared in fury, "NOOOOOOO!"

Then, Tails ran to the glass door and tried to open it, but it was still locked tight. Sweat poured from his head as he pulled as hard as he could, but the door wouldn't budge.

"UGH!" Tails panted, as he strained to pry the door open, "Sonic! I can't open the door!"

Sonic turned his attention to the roboticizer and saw that the mongoose was still trapped inside, and Tails couldn't open the door despite giving his best strength. Just as he saw another motobug getting ready to attack, he suddenly had an idea...

The speedster grabbed the motobug and threw it towards the roboticizer. Upon impact, the glass shattered, forcing Tails to crouch down and cover his head, and the mongoose to shut her eyes as she felt the machine disassembling into a thousand pieces. Once she felt her arms being freed, due to the clamps around her being loose from the machine's destruction, she crouched down and closed her eyes, waiting for all the noise to stop.

Soon, it was silent, and the mongoose opened her eyes and saw that she was no longer in the roboticizer. She looked back and found the machine in pieces. Then, she felt someone helping her back up, and she saw that it was Tails. Sonic then walked up to them, kicking another Motobug backwards in the process.

"Oh, thank you so much!" the mongoose cried happily, as she tearfully hugged both Sonic and Tails tightly, "Thank you to the both of you!"

"You're welcome," said Sonic quickly, knowing that now was no time for group hugs, "Listen, we don't have time for that now! Follow Tails quickly! He'll lead you to our plane!"

"Look out!" Tails shouted, as the six year old fox pointed behind the blue hedgehog.

Sonic's senses reacted quickly, and he saw another Motobug trying to run over all three of them. He simply charged right back with a Spin Dash, and the Motobug was in pieces.

"COME ON, YOU BUCKETS OF BOLTS! GET THEM!" Eggman screamed, who was already steaming from his machine's destruction.

"Um, sir?" the mongoose spoke to Sonic, but the blue hedgehog turned and looked sternly at her.

"Go! Now! I'll catch up!" he said, and he turned back to the remaining robots.

Before the mongoose could answer, Tails pulled her away and led her to safety, heading for the Tornado which was sitting outside, leaving Sonic alone to finish off the robots. It took no time at all for him to take out the last few robots, and before long, the whole room was in a dark plume of smoke.

"NOOOOOOO!" cried Eggman in defeat and despair.

Sonic made his way through the dark, thick cloud and walked right up to his arch-nemesis. The slight anger on the hedgehog's face did not let up at all.

"Let me make one thing clear, Egg Head!" he growled menacingly, pointing a finger right at his face, "No one, and I mean NO one ... messes with that beautiful girl or attempts to make her into a horrible robot! NOBODY! You got that!?"

"Argh, curse you, Sonic!" Eggman shot back, "You think this will convince me to leave her alone!? Well, I won't be quitting after this! I'll get you for this! You'll be sorry! Mark my words!"

"Oh, yeah!?" Sonic fired back, and he pulled on both ends of Eggman's mustache while glaring at him with slight hatred in his green eyes, "Perhaps, you'll be sorry the next time you try to harm that girl! I WILL make sure you pay for that! Mark my words!"

"Let go of my mustache at once, you miserable rodent!" shouted Eggman, but it was too late...

Sonic had managed to rip off the scientist's entire mustache, and he mocked Eggman's evil laugh as he walked away, tossing the two mustache pieces across the room as he made his way through the smoke and left the room.

"AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Eggman's voice echoed throughout the entire lair, and Sonic simply laughed as he found Eggman's screams of defeat to be music to his ears.

Orbot and Cubot came back into the room, and they were greatly shocked to find their master without a mustache.

"Uh, ... w-what happened, boss?" asked Cubot.

"I think it's better put simply like this: He was defeated by Sonic once again, and the hedgehog thought it'd be funny to rip his mustache off as revenge for trying to harm a girl that he supposedly likes, from what I heard," explained Orbot.

"Will you two just shut up and leave me in peace!?" yelled a humiliated Eggman as he clumsily walked back to his room.

Soon, Sonic made it outside, and he was relieved to find the mongoose in the empty front seat of the Tornado as Tails was getting ready to fire up the engines again. Then, the fox saw Sonic approaching, where the six year old fox could sigh in relief, feeling glad their mission was completed.

"Everything's been taken care of here, lil' bro! We're outta here!" Sonic announced happily as he stepped onto the right wing of the Tornado, which was next to the mongoose girl, who was feeling relieved of being free from the person who kidnapped her.

"Great to hear, Sonic! Just in time for takeoff!" replied Tails energetically, and he fired up the engines and gradually lifted the Tornado into the sky.

As the plane left the rocky and disdainful Island Fortress, the mongoose girl looked carefully at Sonic and Tails, the two people who had just risked their lives and saved her life from being made into a life of a robotic future. She felt so happy that she was never made into a robot by force by Eggman, and she could continue to be free, just as long as nobody else try to kidnap her.

"Oh, thank you so much for rescuing me, you guys!" Said the mongoose girl, sitting in the front seat, "I thought that terrible man was going to turn me into a horrible robot!"

"We could never let that happen to you..." Sonic said, looking at the girl, with a warm feeling in his heart, as he then stuttered, "... Um ... w-what's your name?"

The mongoose looked at Sonic, before she stuttered nervously as she responded, "Um, ... my n-name is... M-Mina. Mina Mongoose."

"Mina?" whispered Sonic, staring at her in amazement, "That... T-That's ... a ... beautiful name."

Mina blushed upon hearing that comment, and she couldn't help but smile at the blue hedgehog, before saying, "T-thank you. What's your n-name, ... handsome?"

Sonic blushed a bit himself at being called 'handsome' by Mina, all the while as he heard Tails snickering quietly to himself, finding that to be a bit funny.

"My name's Sonic... Sonic the Hedgehog..." The blue hedgehog replied, scratching his head, "Nice to... meet you."

"That's a really nice name," smiled Mina, but then she noticed that Sonic seemed to be looking at her as if he was amazed by her stunning beauty, "Uh, S-Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog, who was almost looking lost in dreamland, quickly snapped out of his trance after hearing her voice again. What was up with him?

"Oh. Hehe. Sorry. It's just, ... I was ... daydreaming like I always do," he said with a nervous chuckle.

Tails only just managed to hold back a chuckle as he could tell that Sonic was clearly flabbergasted by Mina's appearance. Something that Sonic would have absolutely no reaction to any other girl or woman he would meet in the Unnamed Village.

"And, um, ... who is this little fox friend you have here?" Mina asked, out of curiosity, "He's very good at flying for such a young age."

"This is my little brother, Tails," chuckled Sonic.

"Hehe... Hi, Mina," said Tails as he briefly looked back at Mina and smiled before turning his attention back to his flying.

"Wait. He's your ... brother?" said Mina in astonishment, finding it unbelievable that a hedgehog and a fox could be brothers.

"I adopted him..." Sonic explained, "He quickly became my very special friend after I found him, and before long we became so close that I decided to take him in as my brother."

Mina nodded in response, and she thought that sounded quite adorable. It wasn't everyday a hedgehog would take in a young fox as his own adoptive brother in his own life. The mongoose found Sonic's small side for family matters to be very generous.

"Sonic, Mina, I'm going to have to drop you off in the jungle. Is that okay?" said Tails as the Tornado approached Bygone Island, "The Tornado needs a few adjustments made and I need the time alone to fix it up a bit."

"That'll be alright, lil bro..." Sonic replied, nodding, "What do you think, Mina?"

"Oh, yes..." Mina added, nodding in agreement, "I'm alright with that too."

"Alright," smiled Tails, "Hang on, I'm bringing her down."

The fox lowered the plane so that he was just above the ground a bit, avoiding any collision or contact with the trees as he did. Sonic jumped off the wing of the plane, before Mina stood up from her seat and hopped off onto the ground, walking up next to Sonic, while Tails flew off for home, as the hedgehog and mongoose stood in the middle of the jungle.

"See ya later, Sonic!" called Tails before he disappeared.

"See ya soon, Tails!" Sonic responded, and soon the Tornado was no longer in sight.

And with the two-tailed fox now out of sight, Sonic and Mina looked at each other for a moment, before they stopped the almost endless silence by starting up a conversation, and properly introduce themselves to each other...

* * *

 ** _And so, Sonic and Tails have rescued Mina from Eggman, but neither the hedgehog nor the mongoose can tell that there's something special bringing them together._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER THREE: Sonic and Mina start getting to know each other a little more.  
_**


	4. Chapter 3: A New Friend

**_CHAPTER 3_**

 ** _A New Friend_**

* * *

Continuing from where we left off following the successful rescue mission from Eggman's Island Fortress, both Sonic the Hedgehog and Mina Mongoose wee now standing in the jungle together, after Tails dropped them off in the forest of trees, before flying off in the Tornado to do some work on his plane. And right now, Sonic decided to properly introduce himself to the girl that he and his sidekick had just saved from being made into a robot by Eggman.

And this girl was the one whom Sonic had strange yet warm feelings about from inside of his heart. Something that he had found really odd, since he encountered the mongoose girl in the jungle, this morning.

"So, um..." Sonic said, chuckling a little and looking at Mina, "I guess... I should introduce myself properly, now that whole crazy misadventure is done with."

"Yes, same for me as well, Sonic..." Mina agreed, smiling, before she hugged him tightly, startling the hedgehog at first, "Thank you so much, for rescuing me from that evil man, Sonic! I couldn't have been more happier to have been rescued by a famous blue hedgehog and his trustworthy sidekick! You guys were amazing back there!"

Sonic, who was a bit startled by the mongoose's hug of appreciation and gratefulness, slowly returned the hug, smiling a bit as he did, while being a little shy to the girl who he had saved from almost certain doom. It felt pretty good to have saved someone's life for once and get a thank you from them.

"Hehe, you're very welcome, Mina..." Sonic replied, "I know that being a robot would be just a terrible thing for you to be, but I would never let that happen to you, even if Eggman tried again."

"I was too young to ever become a robot, Sonic..." Mina replied, nodding to the blue hedgehog she called her hero, "I never want to loose my free will or be an evil machine that is made to destroy any innocent lives on this island. That would be very terrible and absolutely terrifying for me!"

"Well, you're safe now, at least..." Sonic reassured, "Eggman won't be hurting or kidnapping you ever again. I promise you that."

Mina looked at Sonic, before she smiled happily with a small sparkle in her eyes, and hugged him once more, as Sonic returned the hug, before they broke it. Sonic then held out his hand to shake, as he was now just getting to introduce himself to Mina properly.

"I may have introduced myself a few minutes ago, but let's properly introduce ourselves..." Sonic said, offering his hand for a shake, "My name is Sonic, but if you like, you can call me by my complete title, Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm about 14 years old and I am the world's fastest hedgehog on this whole island, and what I like to do is eat a chili dog, protect this island from Eggman's machine's and robots, and spend some brotherly time with my best friend, Tails."

Mina smiled at Sonic, giggling a bit at the blue hedgehog's explanatory introduction of himself, only he was doing that in a more descriptive way. And hearing the girl's giggle made Sonic feel a bit warmer in his heart, before he felt Mina gently grabbing his hand and shaking it, as she began introducing herself to him.

"Very nice to meet you, Sonic the Hedgehog..." Mina said, grinning, "My name is Mina Mongoose, and I am a former songwriter and a singer on Bygone Island. I'm about 15 years old, and I was born and raised by my parents in the jungle, before they disappeared a few years ago, leaving me to fend for myself within the next few years."

"15 years old, huh?" Sonic thought, "She must be the same age as Knuckles then."

"I began songwriting when I was about 12 years old..." Mina continued, as the two stopped shaking hands, "I was a bit unsuccessful three years ago, due to not being able to come up with some good enough lyrics to sing from, but overtime, I managed to improve my writing and use my imagination to think of some song lyrics. I just haven't really written in a long while."

"Well, you must be a very talented person for a girl at your age, Mina..." Sonic said, who was rather impressed, "So, what songs have you made and released?"

Hearing that question, Mina looked down to the ground and sighed, and Sonic could sense that something was about to go down for the girl. He was about to apologise for asking her such a question, before Mina looked back up to Sonic, with a somewhat slightly sad expression on her face.

Normally, she would never talk about this kind of question to anyone, not even to people she had even met for just a few minutes, but if Sonic was the first one to ask this question, then Mina should at least try and trust this blue hedgehog and give him a bit of a explanation for the question he had asked her about.

After all, he and Tails did just save her life a few minutes ago.

Sighing to herself, Mina looked to Sonic, before responding to the question that she was just asked about from him.

"Well, Sonic..." Mina began to say, "That's just the thing. I've ... never actually released a song or an album on Bygone Island before. I've been keeping my songs and sheet writing hidden away in my closet."

Sonic blinked at Mina in surprise after hearing that last part of the mongoose never releasing an album or song when she was younger. There was obviously a reason for this explanation.

"You never released a song?" Sonic questioned, curiously, "How come, Mina? Most singers would release a single and get famous for it."

"Well, it wasn't like that, unfortunately, Sonic..." Mina replied, sighing a little, "You see, when I wrote my first demo for a song, there was no singing or music company around in the village at that time. The Unnamed Village was more of a quieter and less than populated town by then. And when I attempted to release a demo tape of my first and only song, nobody would accept me or my singing talent. Instead, they just laughed at me and called me a pathetic loser who sings like a bad child singer. So, I had no choice, but to keep my music and demo tapes locked away for a really long time, and I have never released or written a song, made a demo tape or an album since then."

As Mina sighed sadly, while wiping away a single lone tear from her eye, Sonic stared at the mongoose girl in stunned silence and disbelief. This young, talented and beautiful girl, who has a talent for songwriting and singing, had been rejected by the fewer people of Bygone Island, when it was more of a tribal town and less than a populated village. It angered him just a little bit to hear that those old past people turned this girl down for having a sweet talent for singing.

"Unbelievable..." Sonic said, shocked, though calmly, "That's just absolutely unbelievable of those older people, Mina."

"I know, right?" Mina agreed, shrugging her shoulders, "But that was back way before these new and younger people came into this town, while the old ones who made fun of me left town a year after that little incident. I don't know if the newer townspeople will like my singing and songs now."

"Well, I guess all you can really do is hope for the best, and come up with a song they might like..." Sonic advised, rubbing his chin with his hand.

Mina nodded in response, as she said, "Yeah, I guess so. Thank you, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog nodded in reply, as he looked carefully at the beautiful mongoose girl. He was suddenly beginning to admire her once again, seeing that Mina looked really beautiful in his green emerald eyes. And coincidentally, Mina had the same green coloured eyes within her appearance, so that was one similarity that the two had together.

"Mina is so beautiful and really nice..." Sonic said to himself, as his heart thumped in his chest again.

But then, as Sonic sighed gently to himself, before he quickly shook himself out of his sudden daydream, much to Mina's concern.

"Um, Sonic?" Mina questioned, "Are you feeling alright? You seemed to have been daydreaming again by the looks of it."

"Oh, yeah..." Sonic replied, chuckling nervously, "Sorry about that, Mina. That happens to me sometimes, although today it seems to have been getting the better of me."

Mina just nodded and moved away from the subject, as Sonic came back to the real world, before he spoke up to the girl again, only with a curious look on his face. He wondered if he could hear Mina sing with her voice, even if she needed to sing a small verse for him.

"Say Mina..." Sonic said, rubbing the side of his head.

"Yes Sonic?" Mina asked, smiling politely.

"Could I... um... hear your singing voice? If that's... ok?" Sonic asked, feeling a little nervous for some unknown reason.

Mina looked at Sonic for a moment feeling a little bit surprised and a bit unsure about the blue hedgehog wanting to hear her singing voice. She had not sung a song for quite a long time, and ever since those older, miserable people of the island made fun of her talent before they moved away, Mina didn't have the courage to actually sing to someone or anybody else on the island.

"Umm..." Mina then said, scratching her hair, "I... I don't know, if I can... Sonic."

"It's just that I heard you singing to yourself, this morning..." Sonic began to say ...

... before he was suddenly cut off by a startled Mina.

"Wait..." Mina interrupted, startled, "You... heard me singing to myself?"

"Well, um... y-yeah..." Sonic responded, chuckling a bit nervously, "But... when I heard you sing... it was... b-beautiful. I haven't heard a singing voice as really nice as yours, Mina."

There was a long silence before Mina began blushing at Sonic's kind words and admiration for her singing voice. No one in the current time had actually said something really nice about her singing talent, apart from her parents. It gave the mongoose a warm feeling inside her heart, seeing that this blue hedgehog had said something really nice to her.

Mina giggled at Sonic a little bit, which made Sonic chuckle back in response.

"Thank you, Sonic..." Mina giggled, "That's very nice of you to say. No one has ever said anything nice about my singing talent, except for my parents."

"Heh, you're very welcome..." Sonic replied, grinning and folding his arms over his chest.

The mongoose girl then began thinking about her singing talent, before she looked back up to Sonic, who was smiling at her, while trying to not go into his daydreaming self. Mina then smiled to Sonic, as an idea came into her mind.

"I'll tell you what, Sonic..." Mina said, smiling and clasping her hands, "I'll make a deal with you. Let's get lunch at Meh Burger first, and then I'll give you a little sample of my singing talent."

Sonic listened carefully to Mina, before he nodded and grinned to her, liking the sound of that little deal that she was offering to the blue hedgehog. Holding his hand out, Sonic waited for Mina to shake on the deal offer.

"It's a deal!" Sonic said, grinning.

"Great!" Mina replied, smiling and shaking Sonic's hand, confirming their deal.

After the two new friends shook hands, Sonic then got a challenging grin on his face, as he was feeling in the mood for a little race into town. It was what he would normally do and he would always outrun anyone who would be unable to keep up with his running speed. But what Sonic didn't know was that he would find out something surprising about this mongoose girl.

Sonic then turned to face Mina, who was politely smiling to her new friend. And the blue hedgehog had to admit that Mina's purple and yellow colored long hair was absolutely stunning in the sunlight. He had never seen anyone with hair that beautiful before in his life. But Sonic managed to avoid drifting off into daydream zone, as he spoke to Mina again.

"Hey Mina, do you fancy a little race into town?" Sonic offered, feeling energetic, and making Mina smile brightly.

"Oh, you are so on, Sonic!" Mina replied, laughing a bit as she did, "I haven't been running in a while! Let's just see how fast they say you are!"

"Oh, trust me, I'm really fast!" Sonic said, chuckling, "I'm the fastest thing alive on this island! I've managed to beat Eggman at an eggs and spoon race in the past during a sports day event!"

Hearing that little cheeky comment, Mina laughed up a bit of a storm, finding this hedgehog had a good sense of humour within him. She hadn't met anyone that was so funny before, until she met this heroic blue hedgehog. It felt nice to meet someone who could make her laugh.

"Alright, Sonic..." Mina said, grinning and rubbing her arms, "The first one to reach Meh Burger in town, must buy the winner lunch!"

"You're on, Mina!" Sonic responded, stretching his legs a bit to get himself ready.

Giggling, Mina Mongoose then got herself into a starting position, getting herself ready for a race with Sonic the Hedgehog, who was apparently the fastest thing alive on Bygone Island. Though, the blue hedgehog would soon find out that he was not the only fastest thing alive.

Sonic got himself in a starting position, standing next to Mina, as they looked towards the open and empty jungles of Bygone Island, which led to the village on the other side of all those trees and bushes, which stood in their way, though not enough to block their race into town.

"Alright Mina..." Sonic said, being a bit overconfident, "Are you ready to race the fastest thing alive?"

"We'll see about that, once I get through all of this forest before you, Sonic!" Mina replied, giggling cutely, which made Sonic blush a little, which quickly disappeared before Mina could see it.

"Right!" Sonic responded, chuckling confidently and getting ready for his trademark take off, "Here we go! We shall race, in three... two ..."

But then ...

*BOOM!*

... before Sonic could finish the countdown, a supersonic blast was then heard beside him, and Sonic the Hedgehog was then literally left in a cloud of dust, as Mina Mongoose was then seen rocketing off at supersonic speed, running off into the jungle, with a flowing purple aura seen making a trail behind her, as well as shining around her a little bit.

Once the small dust cloud cleared away, Sonic coughed and looked with wide eyes of shock, as he saw Mina running at supersonic speed just like him. He had just been left in the dust by a girl who he had rescued from Eggman, and he didn't even know that she had another special ability other than her singing!

Mina had supersonic speed!

"O-One?!" Sonic exclaimed, clearly shocked by this head-start the mongoose has just gotten.

Quickly as he possibly could, and shaking the dust off himself, Sonic immediately rocketed off at supersonic speed, with his blue aura trailing behind him, as he attempted to catch up to Mina, who had left him behind in the dust.

"Hey! Wait up, Mina!" Sonic exclaimed, as he ran into the jungle to catch up with the speeding mongoose girl.

* * *

Back in the present time, Sonic could be seen sitting in his chair, looking at his current friends in Tails' basement, who looked at him with keen interest and stunned looks. And Sonic just chuckled off the fact that he revealed he was left behind in the dust by his past girlfriend.

"I then found out that Mina had the same supersonic speed just like I had..." Sonic explained to his friends, "And that was the first time that anyone has ever burned me off or out ran me."

"Whoa! Wait a minute, Sonic!" Knuckles exclaimed, "You're telling us that I was running at the same speed as you, all because of a pill that Tails told me not to take, when I did?! And I was Mayor Fink's daily message carrier?!"

Everyone in the room, including Sticks and Zooey, just sighed in annoyance at Knuckles, sensing that he didn't pay attention to the part of Sonic being burned off by Mina Mongoose about five years ago. Mind you, nobody is going to pay attention to you at all, if they don't exactly listen to you carefully, so we know how that feels in the real world.

"That was already explained and established earlier on, pinhead..." Sticks scolded, clearly annoyed by the echidna's cluelessness.

"Hey! Who are you calling pinhead?" Knuckles asked, scratching his head.

"So, Mina Mongoose actually got a head start before you in your race, Sonic?" Zooey asked, curiously, while trying her hardest not to laugh.

"Yep..." Sonic replied, nodding and smirking, "She really took me by surprise that day with her supersonic speed."

"I never knew that, Sonic..." Amy cut in, feeling humorous by that little memory, "She must've possibly dethroned you as the fastest thing alive on this island."

Hearing that funny little comment from the pink hedgehog, made Sonic Actually laugh a bit, which in turn soon started making everyone in the basement laugh together for a few seconds, finding this little joke to be funny. Of course, apart from Mina Mongoose, or even Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic knew that nobody, including his robotic doppelgänger, Metal Sonic, and not even that green shrimp, Swifty the Shrew, could ever dethrone the blue hedgehog, as the fastest thing alive on Bygone Island, or in Hedgehog Village.

Once the laughter died down, Tails then cut in, curious to find out on how Sonic's race with Mina went on, before they reached town.

"So, what happened next in your race, Sonic?" Tails questioned, "Did Mina out run you and beat you to the town?"

"Did she admit that she was much faster than you or Knuckles?" Sticks added, curious to find out.

"Well, that's where I was just getting to, guys..." Sonic responded to both Tails and Sticks, as he looked to his friends, who gathered back around him, "Our race was quite fast and very exciting..."

* * *

As Sonic started his backstory again, we return to the jungle five years ago, where Mina Mongoose could be seen running fast through the trees and bushes, with her legs running at a quick pace, and her trailing purple aura flowing right behind her, similar to Sonic's trademark aura. For the first time in who knows how long, Mina felt like she was free whenever she was running fast.

"This is feeling really great!" Mina said to herself, laughing happily, "I haven't run this fast in ages! Just feeling the wind going through my hair and the sense of speed and freedom just feels amazing! And what's amazing as well, is that I managed to get a head start before Sonic could!"

As Mina laughed heartily to herself at that funny little bit, she then could see Sonic was catching up to her, until he was able to pull up alongside her while running with his blue aura trailing behind. So, being a little fair to her new speedy friend, Mina slowed down a bit to let the two of them run alongside.

And when she saw the surprised look on Sonic's face, it almost made Mina laugh again, as she had just managed to surprise him with her special ability.

"You took your time, Sonic!" Mina giggled, "What's wrong? You're too slow?"

"You... You've got super speed like me, as well?!" Sonic asked, clearly stunned by this revelation.

"Of course I have!" Mina responded, laughing, "I was born with this ability. We mongooses have the same speed as hedgehogs like you."

"B-But..." Sonic stuttered, who was confused himself, "No other hedgehogs that I know of ... except for Shadow... can match my speed! I'm the only one!"

"Hehe, not today you aren't, Sonic!" Mina retorted, giggling as she did, "Now, are we going to race to town, or are you going to put some serious drag on your shoes looking like that?"

Thinking it over, Sonic knew that he was the fastest thing alive, at least until Mina burned him off at the starting line. If he was to prove to her that he could out run her to the Unnamed Village, then he would have to run at Mach 1 to try and beat this girl in the race.

Grinning challengingly, Sonic then looked at Mina and smirked at her, with his slight overconfidence getting the better of him.

"Oh ho! I'm so gonna beat you to town, Mina!" Sonic replied, "You haven't seen my true super speed just yet!"

And with that being said, Sonic then gave a burst of energy and ran off ahead quickly, going as fast as his legs could carry him. The aura around him was bright blue and the jet engine like sounds from his feet could be heard as he ran ahead. Though he was only meeting his match, as he had no idea who he was up against in terms of speed.

Mina watched Sonic run ahead of her, and she only chuckled as she trailed behind for a few more seconds.

"We'll just see about that, sugar plum..." Mina chuckled...

... before she gave a small burst of boost energy, getting up to Mach 1 herself, and having her bright purple aura flowing behind her, as she raced off to catch up to her new friend and hopefully beat him to town before he could.

For the next few minutes, Sonic and Mina raced through the jungle side by side, leaving trails of blue and purple aura behind them as they sped past the many trees. For a while, it seemed as if neither would get the upper hand, as they stayed side-by-side, each thinking one would get that extra boost over the other.

Up ahead, the town of the Bygone Island was quiet and peaceful as always, with the limited amount of villagers seen walking around, minding their businesses and keeping up with their daily activities. As mentioned before, there were not many building seen around the small population, and until the money could be found, the town would have to stay like this for quite a while.

Then, as the town bystanders walked around, and looked in the small market place, the unfamiliar sound of supersonic jet engine speed could be heard coming from in the jungle. Everyone, or just a few odd people, looked at the jungle opening, and for a moment no one As there, before they saw Sonic and a mongoose girl running next to him, in which some of the townspeople might or might not have seen before.

Nevertheless, when the people saw the two rocketing towards town, they immediately ran off to either side, clearing the way as they had a mini panic attack of some sorts, despite nothing bad going to happen.

Then, as Sonic and Mina were nearing the end of the jungle into town. Sonic was in for another surprise...

Just as he was about to put on his final burst of speed as they approached the town, Mina suddenly did it before him, and she pulled away from the stunned hedgehog.

Mina sped into the town square several seconds before Sonic did, and the cobalt speedster could only stare at her in awe. He couldn't have imagined himself being defeated in a running race, particularly by a girl. Now, he was beginning to think more than ever that Mina was absolutely amazing.

"Surprised?" smirked Mina.

"I didn't think anyone could ever beat me," muttered Sonic in shock.

"Well, you can't say that ever again!" chuckled Mina, "It seems you've finally met your match, Sonic!"

"I suppose I'll have to agree with you there!" replied Sonic, "So ... I guess I will be buying lunch for the both of us?"

"Of course, Sonic..." Mina smiled, nodding, "I'd eat a chili dog any day!"

Sonic was surprised to hear that. He had wondered if he and Tails were the only ones in town who adored chili dogs, but now it seemed that there was finally another person who had a liking for chili dogs as well.

"Wait... you like chili dogs?" he said.

"I love chili dogs," said Mina as they began their walk to Meh Burger.

"So do I!" said Sonic with a big grin, "I absolutely love chili dogs! They've been my favorite food ever since I was a little boy! I could never go a whole day without one!"

Mina laughed. She was happy to find a friend who could share her delight for chili dogs, especially one who could say that they were his most favorite food on the whole planet.

"Fascinating!" she smiled.

A few minutes later, the duo arrived at the go-to place for all chili-dog lovers: Meh Burger. Although the name suggested that hamburgers were the food that everyone would talk about, it was the chili dogs that always kept Sonic coming back here every day for lunch.

An elderly female walrus was operating the cash register, and she smiled once she spotted Sonic and Mina approaching. She had gotten along very well with Sonic and Tails whenever they stopped by for lunch. To her, the hedgehog and fox were like a couple of everyday friends. It saddened her as she remembered that she was planning to retire soon.

"Ah, my favorite customer," she greeted Sonic politely, "And I see you've found a new friend, too."

Mina blushed as Sonic simply gave the cashier his everyday smile.

"What can I get you? The usual?" asked the cashier.

"Yup!" said Sonic, "And one for Mina here, too. In fact, make it two Chilli Dogs each for us please."

"You got it," smiled the cashier, and she wrote something down on a tiny slip of paper and set it down on the table behind her, "Two regular chili dogs!"

She turned back to her two customers, "That comes to $5.39."

"Here ya go!" said Sonic, pulling out a $10 from one of his gloves and leaving it on the counter.

"Thank you," smiled the cashier, and she handed the hedgehog $4.61 back as change, "Your food will be ready in a moment."

"Thanks!" said Sonic, giving her a thumbs up, and he and Mina sat down at one of the tables.

"Do you come here every day for chili dogs, Sonic?" asked Mina.

"Not quite every day, but at least several times a week," answered Sonic, "Tails and I really enjoy coming here whenever we have lunch together."

"I can see," said an impressed Mina, "You know, I'm thinking that maybe sometime soon you should introduce me to Tails. He sure seems like a nice kid."

"He most definitely is, Mina," replied Sonic, "Next chance I get, I'll take you over to his house. Once you meet him, you'll find that he's such a sweet-natured soul."

"Now you really have me excited," commented Mina.

The two shared a laugh, and a few seconds later a waiter came to their table with two chili dogs for each of them, two for Mina and two for Sonic.

"Nothing but the best chili in town!" he said as he set two plates down, each with one chili dog, "Bon appetit!"

"Thanks, waiter," grinned Sonic as the waiter left, and the two were left in peace to enjoy their lunch, although they would soon find that the peace wouldn't last for too long, as they tucked into their chilli dog meals.

Meanwhile, Amy was just walking out of her hut home, having just finished having a lie down, after being spun around like a top, thanks to Sonic and Knuckles running fast past her and causing her to get dizzy in the first place. But now, after lying down for over 20 minutes, Amy began to feel much better and more balanced.

Right now, Amy was once again looking for Sonic, hoping to try at a second time to ask him to the Dance Under The Stars event, tonight. Though in just a few moments, she would be in for another surprise, but thankfully, this surprise wouldn't involve spinning again, because this time, Amy was taking great caution for any sign of Sonic or Knuckles running at crazy speeds.

"Well, I think I'm feeling so much better, now that I've taken a few minutes to stop my head from spinning from those two speed demons..." Amy said, to herself, "I hate it when they make me spin around unexpectedly. But now, I've got to find Sonic and ask him about the dance event that's happening, this weekend. This time, nothing will make me spin around."

As Amy walked into town again, she could see everyone was having a nice day and doing their usual quiet activities. Nothing bad was happening, Eggman wasn't around to stir up some trouble, and not one soul was having a bad day so far. The pink hedgehog had left her hammer in her home, so the need for it was not necessary for the time being.

But then, as Amy turned a corner that led into Meh Burger ...

... she saw Sonic sitting at a table, before she saw that he was sitting with a mongoose girl that she had never met or seen before, at the table where the blue hedgehog was. The two were laughing and having fun, as they were eating their chilli dogs for lunch.

This only made Amy stare at this little scene in stunned silence. She had never seen her secret crush sitting with another girl at a table at Meh Burger before. As she could recall, the only time Sonic would sit with someone here is either with the team, or just with her alone. But now, seeing Sonic sitting with a mongoose girl just made the pink hedgehog stare in disbelief.

"Sonic has ... fallen in love with somebody else?" Amy murmured to herself, "Am I ... dreaming? Is this all a nightmare?"

To see if she was hallucinating or having a bad dream, Amy quickly rubbed her eyes and checked to see if she wasn't hallucinating. But when Amy looked again after blinking two times, it turned out she was dreaming at all. Sonic was with another girl, and although from her eyes it looked like they were in love, what she didn't know was that Sonic and Mina were just being friends is all.

But something in Amy did start to boil just a little bit inside her body, something which she hadn't experienced before. And it all related on her secret crush on Sonic, as well as relating to the fact that he was with a girl she had never met before.

This was known as a bit of ... jealousy ... inside of Amy's soul.

"Hmm..." Amy thought, frowning at the two, "I think I'd better speak to Sonic about the girl he's currently sitting with."

Although Amy normally was a bit on the short tempered side, she did have a sweet and nice side to her as well, which usually blocks out her short temper. And the first thing that Amy would do to new people would be to great them nicely and politely. Well, she'd had to do that anyways, since Sonic was around, and the last thing this town needed was a great boatload of trouble.

But that boatload of trouble would most likely happen much later on in the story, as Amy went to see Sonic and his new friend.

* * *

 ** _Sonic and Mina have started to get a little closer together, but Amy has started to become jealous. I might warn you now that she will get more jealous as the story goes on, but more on that much later..._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER FOUR: Sonic gets a taste of Mina's singing voice.  
_**


	5. Chapter 4: Friends and Talent

**_CHAPTER 4_**

 ** _Friends & Talent_**

* * *

On their table at Meh Burger, Sonic and Mina were just almost finished eating the first of their two Chill Dogs, as they were talking to one another, getting used to each other's company, as Amy quietly approached their table. Sonic was really starting to like Mina, seeing that his new friend was lively and bubbly, with using a great sense of humor, as she was making him laugh a bit.

Right now, Mina has just said something funny to Sonic, which made him laugh, making it a rare opportunity for somebody to actually make him laugh in his life.

"Hahahahaha!" Sonic laughed, trying to not choke on his food, "Your mother actually spooked your father by accident, when he thought he saw a ghost in the house, Mina?"

"Hehe! Yep!" Mina replied, giggling, "He almost fainted at that point, because when he looked in the mirror, his appearance had become so pale, that he thought he was a ghost!"

Sonic ended up laughing up a bit of a storm, finding Mina's sense of humor to be bright and colorful. This young mongoose was definitely a special person in the eyes of the blue hedgehog, and the strange but warm feeling inside his heart was once again happening, although Sonic was too distracted by Mina's fun little tale to take notice of it again.

Eventually, Sonic's laughter died down a bit, as he wiped away a tear in his eye, which indicated that he had almost laughed out tears of joy. It was actually the first time that someone had made him laugh, when it was almost impossible to make him laugh in public, although Tails had sometimes made him laugh quite a lot whenever the two brothers were having their playful ticking fights.

Turning to face Mina again, Sonic let out a sigh, while lightly chuckling to make sure he didn't go laughing over the top again.

"That was very funny, Mina..." Sonic said, chuckling, "You have quite a good sense of humor in your life."

"Thank you..." Mina replied, giggling, "My mother was known to make me laugh at times, whenever I felt down or a little upset. So, I'm quite relieved to have her humor in my life."

Sonic nodded in response, with a smile, as he finished the last of his Chili Dog, just before a voice called out to them.

"Um, e-excuse me, you two?"

Sonic and Mina then nearly jumped out of their skin, as they heard the voice speak out to them. Turning, they soon found out that it was Any who had just called out to them, although while Sonic instantly recognized his pink hedgehog friend in Team Sonic, Mina didn't know who Amy was just yet. And unknown to the mongoose and the blue hedgehog, Amy was hiding in her jealousy from them.

Unaware of Amy's small hint of jealousy, Sonic smiled at his pink friend and stood up to greet her. He knew that Amy has not yet met Mina, so this would make a good start for his new mongoose friend to meet another member of Team Sonic, after Mina had met both Tails and himself.

"Hey Ames!" Sonic said, grinning, "You gave us a bit of a scare."

"Heh, sorry about that, Sonic..." Amy replied, chuckling sheepishly, "I didn't mean to do that to you guys."

Mina, taking interest in the pink hedgehog who had unintentionally spooked her and Sonic just a couple of seconds ago, stood up and gave a sweet smile to the pink hedgehog. Sonic stood up from his chair and watched as the events unfolded. He failed to notice Amy's slightly twitching eye, because he was once again thinking about Mina, as his mind was getting clouded over by her appearance and abilities.

So, Sonic forcefully shook himself out of his daydream state once more, to prevent another scene from happening. These strange feelings were becoming more stronger for Sonic, as he tried to keep them out of his mind.

"Who might you be, ma'am?" Mina asked politely, "Another friend of Sonic's?"

"Um, ... yes, uh ... my name is ...A-Amy..." The pink hedgehog responded, stuttering a bit, before clearing her throat, "Amy Rose."

"That's a really nice name..." Mina replied, smiling, "It matches well with your pink appearance. Any friend of Sonic's is a friend of mine, too."

Mina then held out her hand to shake with Amy, keeping her friendly smile on her face as she did. Amy looked at the hand that was being offered by Mina as a sign of friendship. The pink hedgehog looked carefully at the mongoose girl, her small bit of jealously churning inside her stomach.

Amy then glanced over to Sonic, who had his arms folded and smirking, hoping that Amy would accept Mina as her friend, just as he did to her not too long ago. So, hiding away her jealousy for the time being and putting on a polite smile, along with shaking off her nervousness, Amy gently grabbed Mina's offered hand and shook it.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mina..." Amy said, smiling, "You look like a really nice person to be a friend of Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Thank you..." Mina replied, smiling, "Sonic and his friend Tails just saved my life from an evil man on an island. He tried to turn me into a terrible robot, but these two heroes managed to save me from being robotised."

Amy looked at Mina with an impressed look, before turning to see Sonic, who was chuckling a bit from his and Tails' mentions of saving the mongoose's life. While the pink hedgehog had never met Mina before, it did warm her heart a bit that Sonic and Tails would put their lives on the line to rescue an innocent girl from being transformed into a metallic and horrific robot.

Smiling, Amy walked over to Sonic, and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, to show that she was proud of him for saving Mina's life.

"Well done, Sonic..." Amy said, smiling, "You really are a hero to this island."

"Hey, thanks Amy..." Sonic responded, grinning, "I don't let Eggman take the lives of innocent people like this young mongoose."

Mina heard that little comment Sonic said, and she giggled while blushing a little pink on her cheeks, finding him to be very sweet. Amy heard Mina's giggle to Sonic, and it only made her secret jealousy churn a bit inside her body.

But not wanting her jealousy to be sensed or seen, Amy nodded it off to Sonic, and kept her nice smile on her face, clasping her hands as she did.

"Well, you did very well, Sonic..." Amy then said, smiling, "I'm proud of you."

"I know..." Sonic responded, nodding, "Tails is also a great sidekick at sabotaging machinery."

"Well, Mina..." Amy said, turning to the mongoose, "It was very nice to meet you. I would love to get to know you more, but I must go and run some small errands in my house."

Mina and Sonic looked at the pink hedgehog like if something was wrong or suspicious about her tone of voice, but seeing that nothing looked wrong with Amy, the mongoose and blue hedgehog just nodded together at their pink friend. Surely nothing was wrong with her at the moment, right?

"Ok, Ames..." Sonic then said, nodding, "I hope you and Mina will get along very soon, sometime in the future!"

"Yeah, I think we'll be good friends, Amy..." Mina added, chuckling.

"Oh, I'm sure we will, Mina..." Amy replied, chuckling, secretly a bit nervous, "Well, I gotta go! See ya guys!"

Amy then turned around and walked off back into town, as Mina and Sonic waved her goodbye. Although unknown to the blue hedgehog and mongoose girl, Amy's face was looking a little bit twitchy eyed, as she was inaudibly heard grumbling to herself about the mongoose girl whom she saw with Sonic. Amy was beginning to get jealous that her secret crush, Sonic, was with a girl that she was unfamiliar with.

As Amy walked away back into town, she walked past Knuckles, who was struggling to drag along his heavy leg iron steel ball clamps on his ankles.

Although it was a bit ironic that despite him being the muscle in Team Sonic, with the strength to destroy Eggman's robots with ease, along with a ground pound ability to make a small shock wave to the ground, the heavy weight of the steel ball clamps on his feet were only adding onto the extra weight to keep him from taking off at great neck speed on the move.

"Urghh!" Knuckles grunted, as he dragged his weights behind his feet, "Okay! I'm gonna have to ask Tails to clamp some lighter weights to my legs. These are too heavy for me to drag along all the time."

Before long, the red echidna made his way to Meh Burger, and Mina quickly took notice of him as he lazily walked in with a stressful look on his face.

"Um, hello?" the mongoose greeted him.

"Hey," Knuckles replied as if he was in a state of depression, "Just another slow day like always, isn't it?"

"Hey, Knux," said Sonic, "Still clamped down to those weights, I see? That pill must last longer than I thought."

"Knux?" Mina asked, looking at Sonic.

"This is my muscular pal, Knuckles," Sonic introduced, and he brought his mouth to Mina's ear, "Although, he isn't quite the brightest guy around."

"I … see what you mean," Mina replied awkwardly.

"What will it be, Knuckles?" asked the friendly cashier.

"Just a plain, simple burger and a large soda. That'll be all," responded Knuckles, and he sat down by himself at a table, which was next to Sonic and Mina's table.

"So, … w-what do you mean by 'pill'?" asked Mina.

"Knuckles took some sort of speed-enhancing pill while over at Tails' house. Tails told him not to take it, but his curiosity got the better of him again," explained Sonic, "Now he can't stop running unless those weights are clamped to his feet. I don't know how long the effects of the pill will last, but it could be for a while. He'll have to spend quite some time with those weights, since he's running about the same speed as us."

"Oh, dilemma," sighed Knuckles, "Thy name is 'Simple Heavyweight'."

"Knuckles, that is just not true," chuckled Mina, "I can see that you work out a lot."

The echidna suddenly perked up and looked at Mina as if he was excited about something, and as usual, he had his short term memory loss get the better of him, as he looked at the mongoose girl, as if he's never seen her before.

"Oh, my gosh! Do we have a newcomer!? Hi! I'm Knuckles!" he said with a cheerful smile just as the waiter brought him his burger and soda.

"Um, … ooookay," said Mina, trying not to chuckle at Knuckles' sudden change of mood.

"I told you he wasn't the brightest guy around," whispered Sonic.

"But he does look like someone who could take out a robot with one punch," commented Mina.

"Oh, he can," chuckled Sonic, "I once saw him take out five robots in one single powerful ground punch."

"Now, that is saying something," laughed Mina.

Knuckles gave the waiter a few dollars to pay for his lunch, and he woofed his burger down and gulped down his soda in just a few minutes. Mina groaned in disgust at one point as she watched the echidna eating his food so quickly; in fact, so quickly that Sonic and Mina were still in the middle of their lunch by the time Knuckles was finished.

"Well, I guess I'd better be off..." Knuckles spoke up, "I'm gonna ask Tails to give me some lighter weights for my feet. I'll see you guys later!"

And before either Sonic or Mina could say goodbye to him, Knuckles unclamped the heavy weights from his ankles, before he hopped up and down on his legs, panting as he did, as the speed enhancing pill worked it's magic, before he took off at great speed, leaving a trail of smoke behind him as his legs spun round fast like Sonic's legs.

And because Knuckles was still not used to the taking off part of the running, he did end up screaming a bit as he uncontrollably raced away. As his slight scream was heard, Mina turned to look at Sonic.

"I wonder how you ever manage to put up with him?" Mina asked Sonic.

"Tails and I have known him for a while, and he provides plenty of muscle when we're fighting Eggman, so he's quite a useful fellow," answered Sonic, "Even if tends to get a little bit annoying around Tails, Amy and myself. As of the present day, there have been only four members in our team, so unless we ever meet a new friend, who could be a bit nutty and becomes a team member of our group, then I'm afraid our group will be small for the time being."

Mina nodded and grinned at Sonic, understanding that a team can be small if there were only four members. But maybe there could be a fifth future member in the future time of Bygone Island. The two friends resumed eating their chili dog lunches.

* * *

Suddenly, the backstory came to an abrupt stop, when Sticks the Badger called out loud to the group, returning to the present time in 2018.

"Hey! I ain't nutty!" Sticks shouted, making the group in the basement jolt a bit, "I didn't even meet you guys, until a year later after all of that!"

"We know that, Sticks..." Tails spoke up, "But when we met you a year later after Mina left this island, you were kinda paranoid and a bit nutty. But no offense to you, of course, though it's somewhat true."

Sticks gave the two-tailed fox a bit of an annoyed glare, and a small growl, which made Tails stay silent, like in some of his past unfortunate moments. Sonic took notice of this, and turned kindly but slightly steely to the feral badger.

"Sticks, we understand your conditions, but please don't glare at my little brother like that..." Sonic said, "I know you both sometimes don't get along very well, but just please be less annoyed at him. He's only eight years old."

"And yet we never knew what age Sticks was back then, since nobody in the fandom has told us yet..." Knuckles then said, at a random moment.

Everyone once again looked at Knuckles, only this time with more or so looks that said "Seriously?". Seeing these looks, Knuckles tried to turn away and whistle innocently, like he didn't say anything and he tried to get away with it.

During this, Sticks looked at Tails and then back to Sonic, before she nodded to the blue hedgehog, showing that she would promise to be less harsh on Tails in the future. I mean, just a few chapters ago, Tails and Sticks were getting along very well with the train set running around in the basement.

"Okay, Sonic..." Sticks promised, before turning to Tails, "And sorry, Tails."

"All is forgiven, Sticks..." Tails replied, nodding, "Sorry for my honesty to you."

Sticks nodded it off with a smile, giving the fox a quick hug, which caught Zooey's attention, who was finding the forgiveness of two friends adorable.

"Aww..." Zooey sighed, smiling lovingly, "That's adorable."

"Should we get back to the story now, Sonic?" Amy questioned, as she was uncomfortably thinking about her 'friendly' meeting with Mina in the past.

"Of course..." Sonic agreed, "So, after we had dinner at Meh Burger, Mina and I then discussed about her hidden singing talent..."

* * *

The scene in returns to the backstory in 2013, where Sonic and Mina were now walking into town, talking and laughing together, as their new friendship was already becoming closer than when they first met earlier that day. But it wouldn't be long until both of them would realize they had feelings for one another.

Sometime later on that day, where the sky was now slowly becoming dusk orange, Sonic was walking through the Unnamed Village, with Mina by his side, as the two new friends were taking a look around the town, passing by cheerful and friendly bystanders as they did. From the looks of the newer villagers compared to the much older people who used to live here, these people looked more younger and brighter characters. The old people who lived here and insulted Mina's talent for music a few years ago, were very different people indeed.

As Sonic walked along the town, Mina could be heard humming cheerfully to herself, which gained Sonic's interest. Hearing her sweet voice and humming made Sonic feel less cocky and challenging, and more calmer and sensible, like if it was a soothing cure for his recklessness. Well, he was proved to be reckless whenever he was running around.

"Hmm hmm hmm, Hmm hmm hmm..." Mina was heard humming and smiling to herself, trying to think of a good tune in her mind.

"Nice humming there, Mina..." Sonic said, smiling.

"Thank you, Sonic..." Mina replied, smiling back, "You like it?"

"It's lovely..." Sonic responded, nodding, "I'm surprised you haven't tried your singing talent in the town again, now that those other older villagers have left this town years ago."

"Ahh, well..." Mina said, sighing, "My older songs are still locked away in my closet. I don't feel confident enough to sing those old songs I wrote, Sonic."

Sonic looked at Mina for a moment, before he nodded in response. It was quite a bit of a small problem for a person to have possible stage fright and not have the confidence to sing in front of an audience, whether that audience would be a big crowd or a small crowd.

A thought then came into Sonic's mind. He was thinking about asking Mina to sing to him a bit of a small tune that she might possibly give to him. The blue hedgehog understood that the mongoose girl didn't like to think about her past where she was turned down by the much older and grumpier townspeople, before Team Sonic and the more younger residents moved into the town, but maybe if Mina could even just sing a few lines to him, then perhaps he might be able to hear what Mina truly sounded like with her talent.

It was a bit of a small long shot, but Sonic decided to take the chance to ask, just in case he wouldn't and then he would end up regretting it. Clearing his throat, Sonic turned to face Mina, as they walked through the town.

"Mina?" Sonic asked, politely, though a little nervously.

"Yes Sonic?" Mina answered, smiling at her friend.

"W-Would it be okay if we went to your house ... and you could sing something ... just for me?" Sonic then asked his question to her.

Hearing that question, Mina then suddenly shifted nervously, and that's when Sonic instantly knew he might've possibly struck a nerve in her by accident.

However, thankfully, he didn't do such a thing like that to her, because Mina was instead thinking. She had never had anyone visit her house before, let alone have anyone listen to her singing voice ever since she got turned down, but if this hedgehog was determined, or at least curious, to hear her voice, then she couldn't possibly refuse.

"Um, ... okay, Sonic," Mina then said, after what felt like a long and quiet silence, "If you'd like to."

"I'd love to hear your voice, Mina," said Sonic with a smile, "I bet your parents used to say that you sound wonderful when you sing."

Mina blushed and smiled back.

"My house is this way," she said, pointing in one direction, and she walked in that direction with the blue hedgehog following closely.

"Is your house that little cottage in the jungle, Mina?" Sonic asked, "Where Eggman kidnapped you earlier?"

"Oh no, that old cottage was old and abandoned a long time ago, Sonic..." Mina replied, "My house is in this town, I don't think you've seen it here yet."

"Maybe it's because everyone's hut house looks virtually the same in this tiny town..." Sonic chuckled, which made Mina laugh.

Unbeknownst to either of them, as the two walked off together, Amy had arrived back in town and was watching them discreetly. Again, she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of jealousy that the hedgehog of her dreams was having a good time with another girl he had only just met. She could only wonder if she and Sonic were ever meant to be.

She looked at a nearby poster for the 'Dance Under The Stars' event that was taking place tonight in the village, and this was the event that everyone wanted to do, instead of following Mayor Fink's 'suggestion' to use the money that was being raised for charity, to fund the town for modernization. Amy sighed and walked into her pink hut home.

"The dance event is tonight, and I still haven't been able to ask Sonic if he'd like to go with me, because he's been hanging out with that new girl he met..." Amy said to herself, sighing to herself.

Amy then walked over to a nearby shelf in her living room and peered at what looked like a black Magic-8 Ball novelty item. Picking it up in her hands, Amy held it in her hands and spoke into it, hoping to get an answer to her question.

"Does Sonic like me?" Amy asked to the Magic-8 Ball, before closing her eyes and giving it a shake in her hands.

And when Amy looked at the circle where the triangle answers are shown, well let's just say the answer was not quite what she was expecting. The blue triangle then appeared and gave the pink hedgehog this answer:

"Don't Count On It."

Amy looked quite miffed at the answer, before she glared at it and almost lost her temper over it, though she did give it a bit of a violent shake.

"'Don't count on it'?! Aww!" Amy exclaimed, shaking the ball in despair.

She placed the Magic-8 Ball onto the floor, before she grabbed her trademark hammer off a wall and walked back over to the novelty toy on the floor.

Then, letting out a slight yell of frustration, Amy swung her hammer at the novelty and whacked it hard, which then sent it flying out of the window and into the air, flying over the less civilized village, as the very little hut houses were seen down below.

"What a waste of 25 cents!" Amy said, glaring a bit.

The Magic-8 Ball flew across the town, where it then headed for Tails' Workshop on the hill that overlooked the town.

Inside the workshop, Tails had parked the Tornado back in the building, where it now had a white cloak covered over it to keep the dust off it. Since returning after the rescue mission earlier, and having temporarily fixed his floorboards, by putting two planks of strong wood over the nearly repaired hole, Tails was now trying to think of something to build for fun, though he was having some problems with trying to think of an idea for an invention that could be safe and fun for everyone in the town and in his team.

The door was still off its hinges, as Tails was going to fix it up in the next morning. So, if anyone was going to come in to say hello, then they would have to knock on the door frame to let him know they were there.

However, Tails didn't have that long to think about it, because his peaceful afternoon in his workshop was rudely interrupted.

"CRASH!"

"BOOM!"

The fox's workshop roof then got a hole in it, because the Magic-8 Ball then hit it and fell straight into the room, where it then landed hard on the recently repaired floorboards by the front door, creating another hole that was about the same size as the one Knuckles left behind just yesterday. And believe me, Tails got a jumping shock from the loud crashing.

"Whoa! What was that?!" Tails exclaimed, jumping a bit.

He soon got his answer, as Tails ran over to where his once repaired floorboard was now once again ruined by a big hole that again damaged it. Sighing in irritation, Tails looked at the gaping hole and placed a hand over his face.

"Oh, come on!" Tails said, "I only just nearly fixed this floor two hours ago!"

He then felt some dust sprinkle onto his head, just before the six year old fox looked up and saw a hole in the roof of his home. Sighing again in irritation, Tails knew that he was going to have one heck of a day tomorrow fixing up his home again. Reaching down into the hole in his floor, Tails then picked up a Magic-8 Ball and dusted it off.

"Who could be stupid enough to drop this thing into my home?" Tails asked himself in confusion.

He didn't have enough time to get an answer for that question, as he suddenly heard the familiar sound of Knuckles running and screaming towards him. Thankfully though, Knuckles seemed to have come to a complete stop, which was a small bump into the door frame, and that prevented him from causing any crashes or ground churned holes for once.

"Hey Tails!" Knuckles said, grinning like an idiot, "Have you got any lighter weights for my feet, please?"

"Just my lucky day, today..." Tails quietly muttered to himself, as he stood up and placed the Magic-8 Ball on a nearby counter, "Knuckles, why don't you come on in and have a cup of tea?"

Knuckles looked at Tails, before he sighed calmly, knowing that his answer was going to be unanswered for some time. Using his toes, Knuckles carefully tip toed into the workshop, stepping over the new hole in the floor and without taking off at the speed of sound.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Back in the town, Mina was now inside her home, showing Sonic what the inside of it looked like. And Sonic found himself inside one of the most beautifully-decorated houses he had ever seen in his life. Mina's house had every room colored in dark purple, except for the bathroom and the kitchen, and decorations flooded the walls.

The walls in the living room had what looked like some yellow song notes and symbols. So, it was obvious that Mina was into the music, since she did have her love for music and she also had her talent for singing, which she hadn't shown to anyone yet, except for Sonic only today. And fair to say, Sonic was amazed at by the living room's color and texture.

"Wow... What a beautiful place you have here, Mina..." Sonic said, in amazement with a smile.

"Thanks, Sonic," smiled Mina, "This is just my main part of the house. Just wait until you see my bedroom."

Sonic nodded in response and gestures to Mina for her to lead the way. The mongoose girl giggled at Sonic's 'politeness', and so led the way up the stairs, with the blue hedgehog following behind. Soon, the two walked upstairs, and into Mina's bedroom. And once Sonic took a look inside, he gasped in astonishment at what he saw.

The walls were again dark purple, with the yellow song notes and symbol seen on the wall. But, in the room, there was also a synthesizer keyboard, a guitar, a drum kit and a microphone resting by the window, and her bed was coated by a sparkling purple blanket that looked very soft. It even had pretty golden sparkles on it, which when reflected by the sun or by a light, it would make golden shines on it.

Mina took one look at Sonic's expression of amazement, and she giggled. She had possibly knocked his socks off, if he wasn't wearing his sport taped shoes.

"You're speechless, I see," Mina commented, laughing a bit.

"This is amazing, Mina," Sonic murmured, "Your room looks more like a tiny recording studio than a bedroom!"

"Thanks, Sonic," Mina responded, smiling, "So, ... would you like me to sing for you?"

"Sure, Mina," said Sonic, nearly falling into a trance, before quickly shaking out of it, "I mean, yes of course, please Mina."

Nodding, Mina grabbed her guitar, and the two sat down together on Mina's bed while she began playing a small strumming tune. Sonic listened and waited patiently for her voice, ... then ... it came ...

Mina started signing with her voice.

 _"My heart beats only for you..."_ Mina began singing, _"I have the feeling that together, We won't feel blue. I feel love for you and I, And that together, We will be fine."_

Sonic thought her lyrics were so sweet. Even if they sounded like the kind of lyrics that anyone could put into a romantic tune, those words made her voice sound like music to his ears. And the sound of Mina's singing voice was absolutely beautiful to the hedgehog's ears.

Soon, Mina finished strumming on her guitar, and Sonic was smiling while trying to hold back tears. It looked like Mina had found her first 'fan' of her music. It made a smile come onto her face.

"Mina, ... that ... th-that was wonderful," Sonic sniffled, wiping away the tear from his eye, "It was beautiful."

"Thanks, Sonic," said Mina, as the two then held hands and looked into each other's eyes, "You know, you're really the first one to praise my music, ever since my parents disappeared."

"I loved that tune, Mina," replied Sonic, who was smiling brightly, "And I was thinking about something. If you ever decided to get your demo tapes out and let me listen to them, I think they would sound so soothing and sweetening."

"Are you really sure about that?" asked Mina doubtfully, thinking about her demo tapes that were locked away in her closet.

"I'm sure," answered Sonic, "If there's at least one person in the world who could like your music, I think you've found the right person."

Mina tried not to laugh at Sonic's comment. It felt sweet of him to say these nice things to her about her special talent for music. And ever since her parents disappeared, Sonic was the first person and possibly the first friend she had that enjoyed her singing and music talent.

"I think so, too..." Mina replied, nodding, "Thank you, Sonic."

The two continued to look at each other intently, and they exchanged soft smiles as they felt strange feelings in their chests. Perhaps, that feeling was telling them that one day, their destiny would bring them together. They eventually took their hands off each other's and turned to face opposite ways, where Mina began strumming her guitar gently again.

And that's when Sonic took notice of something.

On Mina's cabinet of draws, was a small poster for the 'Dance Under The Stars' event that was happening tonight in the Unnamed Village. Sonic picked up the little poster and looked at it, reading the info and seeing the time it was starting at tonight, which was around 8:30pm. The clock on Mina's bedroom wall read the time 6:30pm, which meant the dance was just less than two hours away.

"Hmm..." Sonic thought, before turning to face Mina, "Say Mina?"

"Yes Sonic?" Mina asked, while she strummed her guitar.

"Do you know anything about this dance event, tonight?" Sonic questioned, showing her the poster.

* * *

 _ **In just a few hours, it seems that Sonic and Mina are already getting closer together. Only time will tell before they decide to get together.**_

 _ **COMING UP IN CHAPTER FIVE: A dance that no one would ever forget!**_


	6. Chapter 5: Tea Party - Dance Night

**_CHAPTER 5_**

 ** _Tea Party / Dance Night_**

* * *

Mina gazed at the "Dance Under the Stars" poster, following Sonic's question and smiled. She had quite a thing for dancing, although not as much as music itself. However, her smile soon turned into a frown as she thought of the last couple of days. But what she didn't know as that in a few moments, her frown would be turned back into a smile.

"I've been trying to find someone to take with me to the dance, but I've been rejected every time," Mina said sadly, "To be honest, and even if we do have new and younger residents here, nobody seems to like me for some reason at the moment."

Sonic nearly lurched as he heard that. He couldn't have pictured a girl as beautiful and as talented as Mina being rejected by everyone she tried to talk to. In a way, she was beginning to remind him of Tails, so they both had slight similarities to each other, though Tails had a little bit more of a traumatic past than the mongoose girl.

"Mina, … I think you're beautiful," Sonic said softly, "I can't believe anyone would have the nerve to just throw you away like that. This reminds me of how my poor little brother Tails gets rejected almost all the time, either because of his two tails or because they all think his inventions are worthless pieces of junk. That's why he prefers to shield himself from society."

"To be honest, Sonic, hardly anyone in this town likes me, either," confessed Mina, "In a way, I'm much like Tails in feeling like I'm an outcast among all the common people of this village. In fact, just two days ago, I decided I would just give up and not go to the dance, because nobody is interested in going with me, and they just don't want to know about what my special talents and abilities are."

"Well, I'm not about to let that happen," said Sonic determinedly, and he stood up and reached his hand out to Mina.

"What do you mean, Sonic?" asked Mina in confusion.

"Mina Mongoose, … may I ask for your hand, if you would you like to go with me to the 'Dance Under The Stars' event, as my partner, tonight?" asked Sonic in a somewhat ceremonial fashion.

Mina gasped and gazed at Sonic's emerald green eyes for what felt like hours to the hedgehog. This blue hedgehog who had not only rescued her earlier and shared a meal at Meh Burger earlier was asking her to the dance! It felt like the feeling in her chest was something warm and happy. She quickly thought about Sonic's offered question, before she finally registered what he had said, and she eventually smiled happily and stood up, taking Sonic's hand.

"I would be delighted in going to the dance with you, … Sonic the Hedgehog..." Mina answered, smiling happily with sparkly eyes.

Sonic smiled, and the two shared a soothing hug. Mina felt happier than she had been for weeks. After the disappearance of her parents a few years ago and after spending a week feeling hopeless of finding a dance partner, she had finally found one; in fact, one who could really dance like her in some ways. A new wave of excitement filled her heart. She could feel it coming; she and Sonic walking up to that dance floor in the village and really moving to the music.

"I suppose we'd better get ready for the dance," said Sonic, "I'll head back to my shack in a bit and get myself dressed, then I'll come and pick you up outside your house later tonight, Mina."

"Okay, Sonic," replied Mina, giving him a wink, "See you tonight."

Blushing pink a bit in surprise at Mina's wink to him, Sonic smiled back and gave her a trademark thumbs up gesture, before going outside and closing the door behind him.

While Sonic sped his way back into town, Mina stayed in her room and picked out some nice clothes to wear at the dance. She couldn't wait for the next two hours to fly by so she could dance with her new favorite hedgehog.

* * *

In the small town, Sonic raced back into the village, deciding to head straight for Tails' Workshop first, before he would go to his shock to get dressed for the event tonight. Perhaps he could get Tails to come along and dance with somebody for a while, or even just sit around for a while at the event. Sonic knee Tails was quite a bit shy and nervous around the townsfolk, but the fox needed to get out for some fresh air, tonight.

"I hope Tails is open to go to the dance event, tonight..." Sonic said to himself, "He needs to get out for the evening and it might be a good chance for him to get used to Mina a little bit."

With his little brother temporarily in mind, Sonic ran past the little populated town village, which was just beginning its preparations for the upcoming dance event, with citizens like Perci the Bandicoot and Mike the Ox helping to set up the refreshments table, while Dave the Intern did absolutely nothing with his unenthusiastic personality.

Mind you, Dave was an idiot anyways, since in the future, he would later become a self proclaimed villain, with a little group of robe wearing dunces, who proclaim themselves as true evil geniuses. Of course, this wasn't true, but we do know now what the future will have in store for this lazy intern figure.

Sonic raced past the village setting up its preparations for the upcoming dance event, which would be taking place inside of a hut building, which was big enough for the dance event, and he headed straight for the workshop on the hill to go and see Tails. When he arrived, he found that the door was still off the hinges and not fixed up just yet. But while anyone else would have to knock on the door frame, Sonic would know Tails could easily let him in, since the sound of his running ability could he heard almost instantly.

"Hey Tails!" Sonic called, as he slowed down, "It's Sonic! Are you home?"

Tails, who was just putting down a tea pot onto the coffee table in his home, turned to hear Sonic calling his name. He walked over to the door frame, and what he saw was that his big brother failed to notice the new hole in the floor caused by the Magic-8 Ball that fell through his roof and floor earlier on.

"Yes, I'm home, Sonic!" Tails called, "But, you need to look out for the ... "

Before Tails could finish his sentence, and before Sonic could even see where he was going ...

"Arghhh!" Sonic exclaimed ...

... the blue hedgehog missed a step and fell straight into the newly formed hole in the fox's floor, in the exact same spot that he had fallen into earlier in the day. This was certainly not the hedgehog's day at the moment, even if he had a good day in the mix of things.

" ... Hole in the floor ... " Tails finished, before sighing, "I should really put up a sign saying that in the future."

Sonic was heard coughing, as he groggily stood up from the hole he was currently standing in. This was twice in one day that the blue leader had fallen down a hole in the same place.

"Tails..." Sonic said, "Didn't you fix this floor, yet?"

Tails looked at his fallen brother, before offering him a helping hand to him. Sonic took the offered hand and he was soon pulled out of the hole in the floorboards, with a few small pieces of wood sliding off his head as he stood up once again, and brushed himself off.

"Well, it was temporarily fixed when you were last here..." Tails explained, "But just two hours later after I fixed the floor temporarily, someone had thrown their Magic-8 Ball novelty toy straight into my house, but it not only created another hole in the floor, it also made a hole in my house roof as well."

Tails then gestured to the hole in his roof, much to Sonic's surprise. The hole wasn't as big as the hole in the floor, but it did cause some damage to it, when it fell through it. It would take some time for Tails to fix it up again.

"Huh..." Sonic thought, glancing at the Magic-8 Ball to the counter by his left side, "I guess someone doesn't have any fondness for classic novelties from the 1950s. Are you going to keep it, Tails?"

"But, of course I will..." Tails replied, nodding, "This is a very good conditioned novelty toy. It's no use in throwing it out. I can add this to my small collection of novelties."

Sonic nodded in response to Tails' reply, before he was then asked by Tails about Mina Mongoose.

"So, what did you and Mina Mongoose do after I dropped you guys off in the jungle earlier?" Tails asked, curiously, "Did you guys get to know each other?"

"Yeah, we sure did!" Sonic replied, grinning, "Mina is a really nice young girl, little bro. She is a very bright and beautiful girl, she has a wonderful singing talent and what surprised me about her was that ... she has a supersonic speeding ability just like me! She runs at the same speed that I do!"

"Whoa! Really?!" Tails asked, shocked briefly.

"Yeah!" Sonic replied, nodding, "She's amazing! We then raced together through the jungle and into the town, to get lunch at Meh Burger, only when we arrived, Mina managed to beat me by just a few seconds, because she pulled off the extra boost ability before I could. Once we ordered our Chili Dogs from that really nice lady who runs the restaurant, Amy then saw us and I introduced Mina to her, and they seemed to get along so far. Then, I introduced her to Knuckles, although he was a bit awkward to meeting Mina back there."

Tails nodded, finding Sonic's explanation on Mina Mongoose being interesting, before he then remembered that Knuckles himself was in his house.

"Well, that's very interesting, Sonic!" Tails said, smiling, "Mina sounds like a really nice person!"

"Oh, she is very nice indeed..." Sonic agreed, before he sighed happily to himself, thinking about his new friend.

"And speaking of Knuckles..." Tails then interrupted, gesturing to the inside of his house.

Sonic turned to look at the direction Tails pointed him towards, before he suddenly saw what looked like Knuckles sitting at the living room table, oddly enough wearing a green apron with a sun flower seen on it, and wearing a paper cone hat with crayon drawn stars and crescent moon on top of his head, as if he had lost his mind completely.

He was holding a classic 1970s tea cup and saucer in his hand, and he was by now sitting calmly and still, with his feet being held down by heavy books with tape wrapped around them to prevent him from taking off at speed and possibly damaging the floorboards even more.

The echidna, who was normally strong and confident, yet he could sometimes be clueless, was now just sitting there looking nearly rather depressed about something, though this could be the fact that the really heavy weights he had been wearing all day have been bringing him down, and the fact his question to Tails about having lighter weights on his feet had not been answered just yet.

Sonic just blinked in utter confusion at seeing his echidna friend looking like he was sitting at a tea party, with three other stuffed toy animals sitting around with him. This was certainly not like Knuckles at all, especially when he was holding a cup and saucer in his hand and looking like Mrs. Nesbit.

"What's going on with Knuckles?" Sonic asked to Tails, "Is he having a little tea party or something?"

"Eh... sorta..." Tails replied, "I think the weights he's been dragging along to keep him from running all over the place are bringing him down. So, I decided to let him in and have some tea. Though, it looks like he's gone bonkers now."

"Then, we'd better snap him out of it..." Sonic said, walking over to the red echidna with concern, before saying to him, "Hey Knuckles! Are you ok, dude?"

Hearing Sonic's voice, Knuckles then began to randomly talk some gibberish, as if he was slightly drunk on the tea he was drinking from the cup he was holding and shaking about in his hand.

"Slow!" Knuckles yelled, sniffling and making waving gestures with his hand, and making Sonic jump, "I'm slowing down! I don't know which way to go now! Oh, excuse me, sir! Do you know da wae?"

"Knuckles, what is going on with you?" Sonic asked, slightly freaked out by this strange behavior.

"One minute, you're running all around the place, delivering letters..." Knuckles stated, mentioning his letter delivery job, before slamming his fist down on the table, shattering the saucer into pieces as he did, "And SUDDENLY you find yourself drinking down Tetley's tea with..."

"... Sonia the Hedgehog and Rouge the Bat."

Across the table, sitting in three empty seats were three stuffed toy animals, that looked like two familiar faces from other universe. The first stuffed animal toy was a pink female hedgehog, wearing a red shirt, purple boots with red ends on them, purple shorts, purple gloves and it had some spiked pink overhanging hair that sat on top of its forehead.

The second stuffed toy animal was the shape of a white female bat, wearing black tights with a heart shaped chest on them, white gloves, had bat wings on her back and white small dreadlocks that were panting behind her head, with pointy ears on its head. It's muzzle also had a small touch of pink lipstick on her bottom lip and its eyes were half closed and had light blue eye shadow.

Sonic glanced at the stuffed toy animals, before he heard Knuckles chuckling at the dolls, making the blue hedgehog feel awkward with the echidna doing this at a time like this. Sonic then gently took the cup that Knuckles was holding out of his hand, and carefully placed it on the table cloth next to the teapot.

"I think you've had enough tea for today..." Sonic said, awkwardly, before helping Knuckles stand up and walk a bit from the table, "Let's find some lighter weights for your feet, buddy."

Then, Knuckles swung his arm away from Sonic, still acting nuts, as the blue hedgehog stepped back from him, while Tails decided to put the tea party away for the day, picking up the stuffed toy animals and then the teapot.

"Don't you get it?!" Knuckles yelled, crazily, pointing to his cone hat, "You see the hat?! I am Sorcerer Mickey Mouse!"

Knuckles then began to laugh like a crazy person would do, fidgeting around and moving his arms in a strange way, while his eyes crossed and dotted about the place on his head. This was really a serious problem for the echidna, as Sonic could only stare in silence and annoyance at seeing his friend acting like this, all because of heavy weights on his feet bringing him down.

Sonic had to stop this before it could possibly go too far.

"Snap out of it, Knuckles!" Sonic yelled, ripping off the green apron from the crazy echidna as he did.

Knuckles continued to laugh like a crazy person, until Sonic raised his hand and then smacked him hard across the face, making Knuckles stop laughing and causing the paper cone hat fall off his head in the process. As Knuckles was starting to come back to his senses, Sonic carefully flicked him on the nose to get his eyes facing the straight and right way.

Tails came over and stood next to Sonic, as Knuckles finally came to his else's and stopped acting like a goofball, and started talking like he used to do before all of this happened to him.

Blinking, Knuckles then turned to face Sonic and Tails.

"I... I u-um... I'm sorry about that, you guys..." Knuckles said, now back to his normal state, "I didn't mean to do that, I'm just a little depressed over these heavy weights thing on my shoes, that's all."

"Well, that's why we're going to help you find some lighter weights, Knuckles..." Tails then said, "And I think I have just the thing for you."

Tails walked off to another table in his workshop, Sonic looked at Knuckles, seeing that he was now fully back to normal, before he turned to look at the Magic-8 Ball beside him on the counter near the doorway. A thought then came to his mind, and so he decided to ask the novelty toy about it. Picking it up, Sonic looked at it and then spoke to it.

"Will Mina enjoy the dance event tonight?" Sonic asked to it, closing his eyes and shaking it a bit in his hands.

And when he looked at the answer, it was more of a positive answer than the one Amy got earlier on from it.

The answer appeared and it said:

"It is certain."

Sonic looked at the answer and smiled, chuckling to himself. He could just picture his new friend, Mina Mongoose, in a nice dress she could be wearing from her house and the two of them dancing the night away under the stars of Bygone Island. It gave him that warm feeling once again, and it made his heart beat happily in his chest.

Just before he could think about that anymore, he then felt Knuckles placing a hand on his shoulder, making him jolt a bit and quickly placing the Magic-8 Ball back on the counter.

"What are you looking at, Sonic?" Knuckles asked, curiously.

"Oh! U-Um, nothing!" Sonic stuttered, blushing in embarrassment, "Why do you ask, Knuckles?"

"Have you been playing with that girl's heart again, Sonic?" Knuckles asked to the blue hedgehog, quoting an old bit of video game reference as he did, while crossing his arms, knowing full on who Sonic was thinking about.

At first, Sonic didn't catch onto this, but once he saw the teasing smirk on Knuckles' face and his arms crossed over his chest, the blue hedgehog eventually came to the realization on who Knuckles was talking about, and that was his friend, Mina Mongoose. It was bad enough that the echidna saw Sonic thinking about a girl in his mind, but it was much worse when Knuckles knew who Sonic was thinking about.

Blushing really red now, and trying to cover it with his hands, Sonic stepped back from Knuckles, clearly embarrassed that his friend knew that he was thinking about Mina Mongoose.

"N-No!" Sonic yelled, blushing red, "She's just my f-friend, Knuckles! You should k-know that too! You met her earlier today!"

"Then, how come your chest is beating like if you're falling in love with someone in town, huh?" Knuckles pressured, pointing to the hedgehog's thumping chest where his heart beat was pulsating from.

Sonic felt his chest thumping, and that was clearly showing that his heart was beating with feelings of love and happiness, thinking about Mina in his heart and mind. This was really a nervous moment for Sonic, as Knuckles was predicting that he was getting a crush on the girl he had rescued earlier on!

Stuttering and sweating a bit, Sonic took two steps back from the pestering echidna, trying to cover his beating chest with one hand and his blushing muzzle with the other hand.

Tails just so happened to notice Sonic's strange behavior, just as he came back into the room, bringing two new weights over with him, which looked like chains with a ton of bricks taped down on some flat pieces of wood. These would surely be slightly lighter than the steel ball weights that were twice as heavy than the new ones.

"Sonic?" Tails asked, "Are you looking okay? You seem flushed about something."

"F-Flushed? M-Me?!" Sonic stuttered, chuckling nervously, "N-No I'm not flushed! I ... I'm just ... uh ..."

"Sonic..." Knuckles began to say, "Are you having a crush on Mina Mongoose?"

And that's the point where Sonic couldn't stay around any longer in the workshop. Hearing Knuckles ask him that kind of a question caused his legs to go into speedy overdrive, as the embarrassment built up inside him.

"T-That's non of your b-business!" Sonic said, sweating even more, "I... I gotta go now, Tails! I'll see you... guys at the dance event tonight! Gotta go!"

And before Tails could ask about what Sonic was talking about, Sonic took off like crazy and sped his way down the hill and into the town again, almost running into things as he ran along, before disappearing into the jungle to head for his beach shack home on the other side of the jungle.

Tails and Knuckles watched the apparently nervous Sonic raced away and disappear into the jungle, before the six year old fox turned to glance up at the red echidna, who still had his arms folded over his chest.

"Knuckles, why do you suppose Sonic has a crush on Mina?" Tails questioned to him, "He only just met her not more than a few hours ago, and you're already predicting that Sonic has a crush on that girl?"

"Eh, I was just trying to predict on what will happen next is all..." Knuckles started, before he asked to Tails, "But just what will happen next, Tails? I have no clue on what's going to happen next!"

Tails just didn't answer Knuckles' question, but instead, just carefully took the echidna's words of predictions of Sonic having a possible crush on Mina into careful consideration in his mind, even if Tails hadn't gotten used to seeing Mina a lot just yet.

Normally, he wouldn't think about romance, and Tails doesn't even have a girlfriend just yet, at least until maybe sometime later in the future, but the subject of Knuckles predicting Sonic falling for Mina sounded all too interesting to ignore.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Sonic, the blue hedgehog was now racing along the beach that led to his beach shack home, which sat by the edge of the sea. He hurriedly raced by the sea's edge where the slowly setting sun was seen in the horizon of the island, making the water in the ocean sparkle from the sun's reflection.

Sonic raced into his home, and immediately put his back against the wall by the open door frame to his home. He panted a bit, still feeling embarrassed at Knuckles poking a bit of teasing fun of him having a possible crush on Mina. His chest was now beating less from when it did earlier, though his heartbeat was still feeling warm and joyful, as his thoughts on Mina were still in his mind.

"W-What's going on with me?" Sonic asked himself, his panting slowing down, "I'm never like this ... to the guys in my team! It didn't help Knuckles keeps thinking ... I'm attracted to Mina Mongoose! H-How can this be possible?"

With the strange feeling inside his soul continuing to bug him, Sonic then walked over to a nearby mirror hanging up on a wall, and carefully looked himself over in the mirror. His fur color and eye color appeared to be the same, along with the tan color on his muzzle and stomach, though his forehead did produce a few sweat marks, and his heart was thumping a bit from the strange yet warm feelings that he had been experiencing nearly all day.

Sonic sighed heavily to himself, wiping off the sweat from his forehead, before walking over to a closet in the corner of his home. He should've come back home to get changed into his dance event clothes first, before going to Tails' Workshop, but now he was going to be a bit nervous around Mina, especially when he will be dancing with her tonight.

Opening up the closet, the hedgehog found a bow tie among the tiny stack of clothes in his closet, and a fancy, black dress jacket. It may have been all he had that was suitable for such an event, but he was willing to look handsome no matter what, even if he was somewhat cocky and cheeky at times.

Wasting no time at all, Sonic untied his bandanna and left it on his hammock, then he put on the black jacket and placed the bow tie neatly on his neck. Then, he looked at himself in the mirror again and could only say that he looked very handsome.

"Not bad at all. I think Mina will like this," he said to himself, and he looked at the clock and saw that he had a few minutes to spare.

However, he didn't want to waste any time picking up Mina, so for the next hour, he washed his face and brushed his teeth, and got himself ready for the dance and picking up Mina along the way. When the time reached 7:54pm, he then sped out of his shack, leaving a small cloud of blue smoke on the beach as he zipped into the forest.

* * *

Once he arrived in front of Mina's house, he stopped at looked down at what he was wearing. He couldn't help but wonder if even these simple clothes were slightly overdoing it with his look.

"Is this too fancy for a first date?" Sonic wondered, but he quickly realized what he had just said, and he snapped out of his trance, finding that word a bit too much, "Oh, what am I thinking? I just can't help but wonder about these strange feelings inside of me."

Sure, he may have been secretly crushing on Mina, but he didn't want to mention that out loud. This was a night to enjoy not just with her, but with many others, too.

Shoving his thoughts aside, Sonic walked up to the door and nervously knocked three times.

Inside, Mina was humming a nice little tune as she was applying some perfume and fixing her hair. She looked at herself in her bathroom mirror, and she smiled at her purple dress that featured golden sparkles. She was obsessed with those colors and wouldn't want to wear any other color.

Then, she heard three knocks on her front door, and she instantly put her perfume down and finished her hairdo.

"Who is it?" Mina called.

"It's Sonic, … Mina," came Sonic's voice from behind the door.

Mina gasped and took a look at a clock on her bedpost. It was 7:55 PM, and the dance was only five minutes away!

"Oh, my goodness! How much time did I spend in here!?" she gasped frantically, "Hang on, Sonic! I'll be done in a few seconds!"

The mongoose rushed to the front door, before slowing herself down and opened it, and there stood a handsomely-dressed Sonic, grinning nervously at her. The sight of him put a smile on her face.

Sonic was astonished by Mina's appearance, as a small sparkle of surprise took over in his eyes. Her purple dress shone brightly with the golden stubs glittering from the early moonlight above. She also wore some purple high heel shoes, and her perfume smelled like sweet prunes. Sonic especially couldn't get enough of her long purple and yellow hair flowing behind her head.

"Oh, my!" The blue hedgehog gasped softly, "Y-y-you look … beautiful, … Mina."

"Hehe, … thank you, Sonic," Mina chuckled, blushing madly a little bit on her cheeks, before clearing her throat, "So, … shall we head to the dance?"

The mongoose held out her arm to Sonic, and the hedgehog bridely took it and replied, "It would be an honor."

With that, the two walked side-by-side, gently holding hands as they made their way into town.

"Do you like my dress, Sonic?" asked Mina, "My mom made it for me while she was still around."

"I think it's gorgeous, Mina," answered Sonic with a smile.

"You look kinda cute with that jacket and bow tie you're wearing," commented Mina.

Sonic blushed, "Thanks, Mina."

"So, who's Tails gonna dance with tonight?" said Mina curiously.

"I'm not sure if Tails is going to the dance event tonight, Mina..." Sonic said, his ears drooping down a bit, "I was supposed to ask him about that earlier, but I got distracted by Knuckles acting stupid two hours ago. And I don't think Tails has got a partner to take with him to the dance event either."

"Aww, the poor little guy," Mina said, feeling sorry.

"I know..." Sonic agreed, sighing, before changing the subject a bit, "It's too bad you haven't really had a real chance to meet him yet."

"I only talked to him for about … five seconds before he dropped us off. After hearing what you've told me about him, I'm really interested in meeting the little guy. It'll be nice to see what he's like," said Mina.

"Just to warn you, Mina, he gets very anxious out in public," whispered Sonic, "When you do really meet him, take it easy on him. Otherwise, he might try to back away."

"I promise, Sonic," said Mina in response.

A moment later, the duo arrived at the dance venue hut building, and they gasped at the way it was decorated. The ceiling was covered with many colored lights to give it a dance floor-esque look, and the walls were decorated with banners and many different likeable patterns.

Some of the dancing pairs had already arrived, and when Sonic looked around, to both his and Mina's surprise, they saw Tails and Amy sitting at one of the tables, having a quick drink of grape juice together. Tails was wearing a nice little dark yellow jacket with a black tie on it, while Amy was wearing a lovely pink rose dress, with red lines at the bottom of the skirt of it.

Mina looked at Tails for a brief second, before asking to her dance partner, "Do you think Amy brought Tails here to the dance as her partner, Sonic?"

"Hmm... possibly..." Sonic responded, "Perhaps Amy went to ask him to the dance when I wasn't around. Let's go see them."

With that said, Sonic and Mina quietly walked over to the table where the two tailed fox and pink hedgehog were sitting at together.

"Hey, lil' bro!" the hedgehog called, as he and Mina took the table next to where Tails and Amy's was.

Tails looked up from his paper cup on the table, and his eyes lit up with joy as he saw Sonic with the mongoose girl that they had rescued earlier in the day.

"Hi, Sonic!" Tails replied, gaining Amy's attention.

"My, you both look ready to hit the dance floor!" commented Mina as she gazed at Tails and Amy's outfits.

Tails and Amy blushed after hearing that comment, although Amy's smile disappeared much quicker than Tails' did. The pink hedgehog once again felt her jealousy taking over, seeing Sonic with Mina as his dance partner, but she tried her best not to show it.

"What made you come to the dance, Tails?" Sonic asked, curiously, as he smiled gratefully at Amy, who smiled a bit in return to him.

"Um... well..." Tails began to say, stuttering a little nervously, "When I was helping Knuckles test out his new lighter weights about an hour ago, he mentioned something about a dance event that he was going to and asked me if I was going there. But, I wasn't too sure, because I had no one to take me there as my dance partner, and I can get really nervous around the public."

"So then, I saw that he was in need of a partner to take to the dance..." Amy then cut in, "And I was in need of a partner too, because you were busy, Sonic, so I asked Tails if he'd like me to take him to the dance and be my dance partner, in which he agreed to do that. And that's how we ended up coming together."

Sonic and Mina looked at the six year old fox and pink hedgehog for a moment, before they smiled together and nodded, finding that Amy's care for Tails and taking him to the dance was very sweet and nice of her to do, especially for Sonic's little brother, Tails.

Soon, the rest of the guests arrived a few minutes later, and the music started playing on the loudspeakers. Sonic took that as his cue to bring Mina onto the dance floor and dance 'under the stars' with her.

"Wanna dance, Mina?" Sonic asked to her, offering his hand to her.

"I would love to, Sonic," Mina answered, taking his hand smiling, and the two stepped into the middle of the dance floor and started dancing like masters.

Amy watched them with slight jealously for a moment, believing that it should be her and Sonic dancing together only, but before too long, Tails managed to get her attention, causing her to come out of her secret jealously mode.

"Um, … Amy, … would it be okay if you'd … dance with me?" he stuttered.

Amy looked at the nervous fox and felt sorry for him. Although she knew he wasn't a very good dancer and that he wasn't one for these public events, she wanted to make sure he had a good time, and that it would make Sonic happy for the two of them.

"Sure, Tails..." Amy replied, smiling, "I would love for you to have a good time. So, let's dance, shall we?"

The two held hands and stepped onto the dance floor, and Tails shook a little as some sweat dripped down his face. He was feeling extremely nervous about this dancing thing.

"I'm, uh, … n-not a very good dancer, though," the fox said with a quiver.

"Don't worry, Tails. I can teach you a few moves," offered Amy.

"You will?" perked Tails.

"Of course," smiled Amy, "Just watch what I do, and try to repeat after me."

Amy did a few splendid moves in rhythm to the music that was playing, and when she finished, Tails tried to do the same thing, but he lost his balance and nearly fell on his chest. Luckily, Amy had caught him just before he could hit the floor. This was not a good start for Tails so far tonight.

"Oh, dear," sighed Amy sadly, "Looks like you'll really need to see a professional dance instructor. Personally, I'm not very good at teaching as much as I am in actually dancing."

"Thanks for the offer anyway," sighed Tails, his ears folding down in sadness.

"Hey, lil' bro," came Sonic's voice nearby, "You alright?"

Tails simply watched Sonic and Mina dancing like they had been doing it for years, and he was sure he'd never match the skills they or Amy had. He simply felt like an outcast or a misfit like he always would feel whenever he went out in public. It just didn't feel like anything was right around him.

"M-maybe I should just go home," he sniffled, and he was about to turn his back on them, when …

"Wait! Tails!" called Mina.

Tails turned back around to look at Mina, and he saw the mongoose was smiling as if she had gotten a brilliant idea.

"I have an idea! Why don't we switch?" she suggested.

The others looked at her oddly, particularly Amy.

"Sonic, you can dance with Amy for a little while, while I teach Tails a thing or two," she said, "How about that?"

Sonic and Amy looked at each other and shrugged, though the pink hedgehog secretly smiled happily to herself, then they looked at Tails. He looked unsure about dancing with someone who was quite a dancing professional, but if she was willing to teach him, then he thought he mind as well take the opportunity.

"I guess I could try," the fox finally answered.

"It's settled then," smiled Mina, "Come here, Tails. Let me help you out."

While Sonic and Amy took each other's hands and started their own dance just as the next song started playing, with Amy feeling a bit happier as she was finally getting to dance with Sonic, after a few failed attempts of asking him earlier, Mina brought Tails over to the center of the dance floor and started showing him some basic moves.

Tails watched carefully, and then he tried the moves himself. He nearly fell again, but Mina caught him in her arms.

"Whoa! Easy Tails! Hehe, just take it nice and slow," Mina said, gently.

"Um, o-okay," stuttered Tails, and he gave it another try.

This time, he managed to pull off the moves without much trouble. Mina instantly applauded him when he finished.

"That was good, Tails!" Mina cheered, "Now, let's try a few harder ones."

Sonic and Amy managed to pull off quite a show, although it wasn't as much attention-receiving as the one he had done with Mina a few minutes ago.

"I must say, Amy, you're a pretty good dancer yourself," Sonic admitted, "Nice moves."

"Thanks, Sonic," Replied Amy, blushing a bit.

Then, the pink hedgehog noticed something she had never seen before …

"Hey! Look at Tails!" she said suddenly, just about catching Sonic off guard, and the speedster turned to see Tails starting to get the hang out of his dancing.

"Wow! It looks like Mina really knows what she's doing! Look at him go!" he cheered.

Sure enough, when Amy peeked over at Tails, the two-tailed fox was pulling off moves he never thought he'd do! He was having the time of his life!

"Yeah! Look at ya go, Tails!" Mina cheered on.

"Wow! Look at that kid!" said a couple of other dancers as they watched with interest, "He's almost like a lord of the dance floor!"

While some of the guests were applauding this little moment, which made Tails smile a little tearfully to himself, feeling the crowd's praise to him like a warm welcome, Mina giggled at her fox friend, as she watched him do a new break dance move that she had just taught him not too long ago.

She then looked over to see Sonic dancing with Amy, before the blue hedgehog gave her a thumbs up, as a gesture of saying thanks for helping his little brother out with the dance, to which Mina responded with a wink and a wave.

Elsewhere on the dance floor, Knuckles, who was now wearing his new lighter brick chained weights around his ankles, was feeling happier than he did earlier in the workshop. His new brick weights were not as heavy as the steel ball clamp chain weights he originally had earlier on, and he could now walk much easier and quicker than ever before, while the bricks kept him from taking off at full speed from the Acceleration Pill that he took.

Knuckles, who was wearing a black jacket and white shirt, was walking in with Perci the Bandicoot, who was wearing a neat little dance dress, as she had agreed to let Knuckles take her to the dance event. Right now, the two were at the food table, having a chat and having some fun together. Though while the two had no romantic interest in each other at the moment, let's just say that what happens in the future will probably be different and somewhat not quite the way it was envisioned.

And that would involve a confusing event with a mysterious fire taking place in a crowded workshop.

In the other end of the dance floor room, Mayor Fink was sitting in a chair, looking bored as ever, watching everyone having the time of their lives, dancing the night away and giving their money to charity for the event. The mayor still believed that the money should've been used to build a new town hall and to modernize the current small town on the island, although the people were not doing this, as they wanted to raise their money for charity, and not for a secretly greedy little rat like this guy.

As everyone danced the night away, Amy looked up to Sonic, who was carefully slow dancing with her, while they watched Tails slow dancing with Mina.

"S-Sonic?" Amy questioned, to the blue hedgehog, gaining his attention.

"Yeah, Ames?" Sonic asked, looking at her gently.

"Are you and Mina ... just friends?" Amy asked, feeling a little hesitant to ask him such a question, with her secret jealousy hidden in her mind.

Sonic looked at Amy for a brief few moments, feeling somewhat uneasy at her asking him about Mina, his secret crush. He had not told the pink hedgehog or anyone else anything about his strange feelings to Mina, and he wanted to keep it a secret from anyone, even if he was nearly in a meltdown stage earlier, when Knuckles teased him about that earlier.

As much as Sonic wanted to get rid of the strange feelings he had for Mina, his heart was still keeping these feelings inside of it, and they would not go away at anytime. Though, it wouldn't be long until his feelings for the mongoose girl would be so strong and warm, that he would end up confessing to her about his little secret crush to her.

Sighing and taking a bit of a breather, Sonic then looked to Amy, who was patiently waiting for an answer from the blue leader she had a crush on.

"Of course we are friends, Amy..." Sonic said, "I've only met Mina today. She's just my friend, nothing more."

Amy listened carefully to his words, and feeling somewhat convinced by them, she nodded, smiled a bit and carried on dancing with him, while he continued to dance with her.

However, as said just before, it would not be too long before things for Sonic would change and his feelings he secretly had for Mina Mongoose would be revealed.

It was just a matter of time before these events would happen.

* * *

 _ **So much has happened after just one day, but so much more will happen in the days to come.**_

 _ **COMING UP IN CHAPTER SIX: Mina decides to get to know Tails a little better.  
**_


	7. Chapter 6: Bubbly Memories

**_CHAPTER 6_**

 ** _Bubbly Memories_**

* * *

Sonic had just finished telling his small group of friends in the basement about the Dance Under The Stars event. That dance event night those five years ago in 2013, was one of the blue hedgehog's favorite moments in his life, which was actually quite rare, since Sonic doesn't normally have a favorite memory from in the past.

The group were pretty much having mixed feelings at the memory that they were having as they listened to the dance event memory.

Tails and Amy could easily remember that night really well, since Tails remembers that Mina helped teach him how to dance like a pro, Amy had been a bit jealous of the mongoose girl dancing with Sonic, before they switched dance partners later on, and Knuckles looked as if he was lost in space, since his slight short term memory loss was getting the better of him.

Sticks and Zooey had listened to the story of the dance night event, and while the feral badger was feeling neutral on the whole 'slight romance' thing, the yellow vixen was looking rather amazed by the story, as she now had sparkly eyes and her hands clasped together, smiling in wonder at the thought of Sonic and Mina dancing together, and Mina helping Tails dance.

"So, you see, Mina could dance really well back then..." Sonic explained, smiling to himself, "She helped my little bro out when he and Amy were having problems on the dance floor. Mina Mongoose was just one fantastic person that night."

"Oh my gosh!" Zooey then exclaimed, "Sonic, that was just an amazing tale! Mina actually got to dance with you and Tails?"

"Heh, she sure did, Zooey..." Tails spoke up, smiling, "Thanks to Mina, she had taught me on how to dance, and I become a pro at it. Though, Amy did also dance with me, though we had a few stumbling problems back then."

"Yeah, it wasn't our best attempt at dancing together..." Amy agreed, chuckling a bit nervously, and blushing a little bit, "But I did my best to help him out."

Tails nodded in agreement, while Zooey looked at Amy and gave her a sweet smile, finding the pink hedgehog to be really sweet in trying to help her Tailsy to dance those few years back. It really made the female vixen feel that the pink hedgehog was like a really nice person, even if Amy did sometimes have a bit of a short fuse on her whenever she gets angry and draws out her hammer.

And as Knuckles found these moments to be adorable, since he couldn't seem to remember that he was at that dance night himself, Sticks then spoke up, interrupting the touching memories.

"So, what about Knuckles then?" Sticks questioned, randomly, "Didn't he and Perci even get the chance to be in the spotlight?"

Hearing the question come from the feral badger, Sonic, Tails and Amy glanced at each other for a moment, as anther memory from the dance event from five years ago came back into their minds. Although, this memory was revolved around Knuckles and Perci, let's just say that it was a memory that was an unbelievable one.

"Um, not exactly, Sticks..." Sonic spike up, "Knuckles had a bit more of an accidental mishap than a spotlight."

"Really?" Zooey gasped, "What happened to them, Sonic?"

"Yeah! Tell us, Sonic!" Knuckles added, grinning.

Taking a sigh, finding that there was no use in trying to explain to Knuckles about how he was actually with them on that night at the dance, Sonic continued on and told his friends about the slight mishap that happened at the dance night event five years ago.

* * *

Knuckles and Perci were trying to dance the night away like the others were. Everyone had their attention on Tails as he was dancing like a pro, thanks to Mina's help. Knuckles wanted to do the same thing, but with his weights scraping against the floor, there seemed to be little chance of that happening.

Then, he DID get their attention, although not exactly as he had planned ...

While Perci was trying to do a spin, Knuckles thought he could do the same, but as he started to do so, his weights scraped around the floor and created a perfectly-round gap. Perci felt herself losing her balance as the floor suddenly gave way beneath them.

The two fell right through the hole and landed hard on the floor of the basement directly below the dance floor. A crash could be heard, which then catches everyone's attention, including Sonic, Mina, Tails and Amy's attention.

"What on Earth was that?" asked a nearby dancer.

"Look! There's a hole in the floor!" said another.

Everyone gathered around the hole to see what had happened, and as those closest to the hole looked down, they were met with the sight of Knuckles lying on his back with Perci on top of him.

"Oh, my goodness!" someone yelled, "Someone fell through the hole!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself, you idiot! It's just that dumb red echidna stumbling around again!" said a beaver.

"You call yourself Knuckles? Well, I'd love to call you Mr. Heavy Stumblebum!" taunted another dancer.

Sonic, Tails, Amy and Mina all looked down through the hole and saw poor Knuckles and Perci slumped unconsciously on the floor.

"Those stupid weights just don't stop proving themselves what they are, huh?" sighed Amy in annoyance.

"I guess I'll have to see if even lighter weights are available," said Tails, sighing angrily to himself, crossing his arms over his chest, as he was beginning to grow tired of having to constantly deal with Knuckles' situation, "If only he hadn't clumsily busted in and stole that Acceleration Pill in the first place!"

"Take it easy, lil' bro. It's not your fault," assured Sonic, patting Tails' back, "I think everyone knows Knuckles by now."

"You can say that again!" hissed Dave, earning a glare from the hedgehog.

Due to the hole in the floor, the dance was halted while security guards brought Knuckles and Perci out of the hole in the basement, and carefully sent them to get medical treatment. The hole was soon repaired in about half an hour, and the dance event eventually resumed, although everyone became wary of another possible hole developing in the floor.

"No wonder Fink wants to modernize this town..." came Tails' voice at some point after the dance continued, "These wooden floors just break from so much weight across them."

"Hey, at least I turned you into a good dancer," chuckled Mina.

Tails had to agree, and he faintly grinned at Mina, even if he was being a little bit shy at her while doing so.

"Thanks for teaching me, Mina," Tails said, "I should also thank Amy again tomorrow as well."

"I was just thinking, Tails..." Mina spoke up, smiling, "Would you like me to come over to your house tomorrow? I'm very interested to see what it's like. Sonic tells me you're quite an inventor."

"I think it'd be okay," Tails answered nervously, and he turned to see Sonic wink at him.

The fox chuckled and began to imagine how it would be like if Mina visited him and saw his many inventions. If Sonic was the first to love Mina's music, then Mina would surely be the first person, other than Sonic, to be amazed by Tails' inventions.

The six year old fox couldn't wait for tomorrow.

* * *

"And that's what happened..." Sonic concluded.

"Wow..." Sticks said, trying not to snicker, "That all... happened in one night?"

"Yes, unfortunately, it did..." Sonic sighed, "The dance floor was slightly damaged, but not enough to make the building to collapse at least."

"Apparently, the brick weights were the cause of making that hole in the dance floor..." Tails explained, "So, while I was showing Mina around my home the next day after the dance, I've had to make even more lighter weights, in the form of old soft toys from a market place."

"Did they make any annoying squeaky noises, Tails?" Amy asked.

"No, thankfully they didn't..." Tails responded, "But they did have to be cleaned every once in a while, because of the amount of dirt that were dragged along through town."

"Eurgh..." Sticks could be heard moaning, "No wonder Knuckles can't seem to understand the predictions of alien of light speed."

Everyone turned to look at Sticks like they had no idea what she was talking about. Sticks saw that everyone looked confused by her statement of randomness, so she just tried to casually whistle it off and look away, like if nobody else was in the basement room.

Zooey and Amy then turned to face Sonic, who was looking a bit lost in his thoughts about something he was remembering about. Though, Amy could already tell on who Sonic was thinking about, since she could remember the person that Sonic was thinking about very well.

"What happened to you and Mina after the dance, Sonic?" Zooey asked, which got Sonic to snap out of his 'miles away' thoughts.

"Huh? Oh yeah..." Sonic responded, rubbing his eyes, "Well, while I was doing my usual running around the island thing back then, thinking about my crush, Mina went to see Tails and hang out with him in his home, since they needed to get to know each other more, and Tails had agreed to let Mina see his workshop and spend some time with him."

"And when I found out that Mina had a soft spot for an old thing that I loved to do when I was six years old..." Tails added in, making everyone turn to gaze at him, "Well, let's just say things got a little bit bubbly at that point..."

* * *

It was the morning after the dance, and Mina was on her way to Tails' house. After hearing quite a lot about the two-tailed fox from Sonic, she just had to see for herself what he was like. She was picturing herself seeing his house filled with inventions on the walls, or even a small workshop. Although she had no idea what she was getting herself into, she knew she just had to see Tails' place.

As Mina walked through the town, she didn't notice that Amy Rose was watching her from the window of her pink hut home. The pink hedgehog was suspiciously watching the mongoose girl walking on past, with her hidden jealousy inside of her body. Something about Mina being with Sonic was making her blood boil just a tiny bit.

"Something tells me that Sonic has a crush on Mina..." Amy said, quietly to herself while glaring, "I just know it! One day, sooner or later, I'm going to find out for myself."

As Amy glared off after Mina, a bluebird then fluttered down and landed on Amy's head, gently poking its beak into her head, while tweeting cheerfully to itself. Of course, Amy did not take this as very amusing, so she angrily swatted her hands at the pest on her head.

"Fly off, will ya?!" Amy yelled, swatting the bird with her hands.

The bird, a bit frightened, immediately flew away from the angry pink hedgehog, flying off into the sky, while Amy watched it fly away. She was certainly not in one of her best moods.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tails had just finished his breakfast, and he shifted his focus to the broken floor in front of his front door. He still wished he knew who had the nerve to throw a Magic-8 Ball novelty toy into his house.

Then, he saw his bubble wand sitting on the living room table in front of the couch, along with a small bottle of bubble mix seen with it. A fun thought suddenly spiraled in his head as he picked up his wand.

"Hmm. It has been a while since I last blew some bubbles," he said to himself, "Maybe I'll just blow a few bubbles to take my mind off of things."

With that, he dipped his wand into the bubble mix and blew through the hole. Several cute, small bubbles went flying around his living room. Tails smiled cutely as he adored the sight of the bubbles flying around him. Despite being a genius, he was always fascinated by the sight of bubbles. They may have always made him feel very kiddy, but he didn't care. It was times like these when nobody else was around and he could let out the childish side of his personality by playing around and enjoying one of his favorite hobbies.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

"Yaah!" Tails shouted as the door knock jolted him. He typically never expected anyone to come into his house other than Sonic. He was so used to being by himself in this nice little space that being suddenly interrupted by another source would always scare him.

However, he took a deep breath to calm himself down, and he bravely called through the door, "Who is it?"

"It's Mina, Tails," answered the voice outside, "I'm here, … just like I said I would."

Tails had completely forgotten that Mina had asked to come over to his place during the dance last night and that he had agreed. He soon realized his mistake, and he frantically turned around to see that the bubbles hadn't popped yet. He began hyperventilating as the thought of someone finding out that he liked bubbles would likely embarrass him. He was sure that Mina would laugh at him if she saw the bubbles.

"May I come in, Tails?" asked Mina.

Tails was silent for a moment before he replied, "Um, … I'm, uh, … a little, … busy. Yeah, uh, … there's a hole in the floor in front of the door, so, uh, …"

But it was too late …

The door slowly opened, and there stood the gorgeous sight of Mina Mongoose herself. Tails was astounded by how beautiful she looked, even without the fancy clothes she had worn at the dance last night. He was sure that Sonic must have felt the same way when he was met with this extraordinary sight.

"Hello there, little Tails," said Mina with a friendly chuckle, and she noticed the hole in the floor and flawlessly jumped over it, "Tada! No having to worry about that!"

"Uh, y-yeah. Hehe," chuckled Tails sheepishly as he closed the door.

Then, a bubble whooshed right past Mina, and she looked around and saw the many bubbles still floating around the house and giving it such a beautiful sparkle.

"Quite a cute, sparkly place you have here, Tails," Mina said in admiration, "Very neat living room, and a cute little kitchen, too."

Tails was silent as his cheeks turned red in embarrassment. Mina had found the bubbles much quicker than he anticipated, and now he was sure she would laugh at him just like everyone else would when they saw his twin tails or noticed him doing something childish, like blowing bubbles.

"Hey, little one," said Mina gently, walking up to Tails, "Are you alright?"

"Aren't you gonna laugh at me?" quivered Tails.

"Why would I laugh at you?" asked Mina.

"The bubbles," replied Tails, turning away, "Yes! I like blowing bubbles! I might be a genius, but I can't resist having all that kiddy fun!"

"I think it's cute that you like bubbles," said Mina, "After all, every six-year-old loves bubbles, even the smartest ones, like you. There's nothing to be ashamed about."

Tails perked up in surprise, "R-re-really?"

"Of course, Tails," chuckled Mina, "After all, kids will be kids."

Tails sheepishly laughed at this, but his smile quickly faded back to a frown.

"I can see why Sonic told me that you're quite a nervous little one," Mina said softly, and she knelt down to his level and gently hugged him, "I know you're not used to having visitors, and that you like to stay far from town, and that's okay, Tails. It's okay to be nervous when you have a first-time visitor."

"It's partially that," sniffled Tails as a single tear escaped from his eye, "Everyone always laughs at me. When I was little, everyone called me a freak because I have two tails. My parents disappeared when I was just a toddler. I didn't have any friends until Sonic found me all alone in the middle of a forest, all bruised up because people would try to kill me for my … birth defect," he paused as he showed his two tails to Mina, "Sonic was the first one to say that my tails were special, and before long we became good friends. Eventually, he decided to formally adopt me as his little brother. He comes by every day to check on me, and we've spent so much time together."

Mina was so shocked by hearing the story of Tails' sad past.

"Oh, my. Sounds like you haven't had the best start in life," she said sadly, "That is so sad."

"Aside from that, it hasn't gotten much better," continued Tails, "Once I started inventing things after reading so much on science, Sonic was very impressed by the many little inventions I made, but when he insisted I show them to the people in town, … something went wrong several times, and everyone laughed at me and shammed me for being a freaky failure, and they said I was a disgrace to the town, … so that's why I always hide myself in here and shield myself from society. Someday, … I wish Sonic and I could find another island where people will be more accepting of us, … but we don't know any such place right now."

"You remind me of how those people turned down my music, because they thought I was no good," sighed Mina, "I guess we both have something in common."

"I … guess we do," sniffled Tails, brushing a tear off his cheek.

"I'd like to see some of your inventions, Tails," said Mina kindly, "Sonic was the first one to like my music, and if he was the first one to like your inventions, … then I think I'd like to see them, too. Maybe they're not as bad as you think they are."

"Do you really think so?" gasped Tails in shock. Those were the last words he had expected to hear.

"Of course, little one," smiled Mina as she stood up and patted the fox's head, "It'll show that we both have talents that people don't realize we have."

Tails looked nervously at Mina. Although she sounded so sincere, he still wasn't sure if he should show her his inventions, but if she was determined to help him discover that he had plenty of special talent, just like her, then he couldn't refuse.

"I guess I could bring you into my workshop and show you around," he finally said after a long silence.

"It's a deal, then, little Tails," chuckled Mina.

Tails couldn't help but feel giddy when Mina called him, 'Little Tails.'

"Did Sonic tell you his nicknames for me all in one day?" he asked as his cheeks flushed red, "That's typically his brotherly name for me."

"I don't mind calling you that, little Tails," giggled Mina, making Tails blush even deeper in embarrassment, "Personally, I think it's cute."

"Awwww!" said Tails, now greatly embarrassed that he wanted to run off, and he started laughing uncontrollably as if his embarrassment had tranced him, "You're embarrassing me so much!"

Mina laughed heartily as she gently wrapped an arm around Tails' back to calm him down.

"Hey, calm down, Tails. It's okay," she smiled.

Tails smiled at the mongoose with deep red cheeks, and he quickly recomposed himself.

"By the way, Sonic told me about another special talent you have," Mina pointed out, "He mentioned it had something to do with your special tails. Am I right?"

Tails said nothing and looked back at his twin appendages. Then, after a few seconds of silence, his tails started spinning, and he slowly lifted himself off the ground.

Mina was so amazed by this that she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Wow!" she shouted, "You can fly, even without a plane! That is absolutely amazing! You really are a cool little fox, Tails, as Sonic puts it."

Tails chuckled cutely and brought himself back down on his feet.

Just then, another bubble floated around the two, and Mina watched the bubble closely as it came down on top of Tails' head and popped when it hit him right between the eyes.

"Hehe!" Tails laughed adorably with a cute smile.

"These bubbles really bring the fun side of you to life, don't they?" commented Mina.

"They sure do, Mina," agreed Tails.

"I have a soft spot for bubbles, too, you know?" chuckled Mina, "Whenever I feel like I need something to clear my mind with, I just get out my bubble wand and blow some bubbles around my bedroom. They are just an enjoyable sight to watch bubbles are."

And hearing this put a big smile on Tails' face as he thought about a dream he once had before his parents disappeared …

"Sometimes, … I wonder how it would be like to float around inside of them..." Tails sighed, "When I was younger, probably when I was still much younger, I once dreamed about being inside a big, bouncy bubble that could bounce all around the place. At one point during my dream, I even bounced so high that I could almost touch the sky. It seemed just like a toddler's dream ride. If only it were possible."

He sighed sadly as he lamented the fact that it just about seemed impossible to accomplish. However, Mina had come up with an idea …

"I have an idea, Tails," she said.

"What's that, Mina?" asked Tails curiously.

"I know that you're quite skilled at building things, and since you have me around to probably help you out, … maybe we should build something that will make big, bouncy bubbles," suggested Mina, "You've dreamed of being in a bouncy bubble, so I'll help you make it happen."

"Really!?" Tails squealed with excitement.

"I sure will, little Tails!" answered Mina happily.

"Oh, boy! I can't believe I'm saying this, but having someone help me with a new invention sounds like a lot of fun!" shouted Tails as he ran towards the back door, "Follow me! I'll show you the workshop!"

The two-tailed fox opened the back door and politely allowed Mina through before closing it, then the two walked across the dirt-covered backyard and stepped into his workshop.

Mina's mouth was agape with amazement as she looked around Tails' large workshop. For a six-year-old, this space was huge, even if he could manage to fit the Tornado inside of this workshop.

"Whoa!" Mina exclaimed, surprised, "How big is this workshop, Tails?"

"Just big enough for me to work on my inventions and plane..." Tails replied, grinning, "I need the space to store all my tools and inventory."

"Well, it's very impressive, I'll give you that one, Tails!" Mina complimented, smiling, "Now, shall we get to work on the new bubble weapon?"

"Absolutely!" Tails replied, nodding, "Let's get the pieces together and start building the Bubble Blaster!"

With a nod of acknowledgment, Mina walked over with Tails to get some of the pieces necessary to build their new first weapon together. This was going to be a fun day for the two new friends.

Throughout most of the morning, Tails and Mina had collected some of the pieces needed to build the basis for the blaster, and while Tails worked on building the blaster together, piece by piece, using his tools from his toolbox to fix the pieces together, Mina got to work on creating some sort of special bubble mix to make the bubbles not only bouncy and safe, but also making the bubble mixture invulnerable and unable to be popped by normal sharp objects.

Tails also decided to build in a special needle into the Bubble Blaster, to be sure that while the bubbles cannot be popped by blunt or normal sharp objects, they can be popped by only a special needle designed to pop them whenever necessary.

The construction of the Bubble Blaster took about nearly two hours to build, but it was worth the time for Tails and Mina to get to know each other more. During the building of their new weapon, Tails and Mina shared a few laughs and talked about their abilities, while blowing a few bubbles around the workshop with the bubble wand that they share.

At last, after two hours of work and some fun, Tails and Mina placed the final component onto their new weapon, which was the small glass storage piece that kept the bubble liquid inside of it, before holding it in their hands at success.

"Success!" Tails exclaimed proudly, making Mina laugh.

"We've done a pretty great job on this, Tails!" Mina agreed, "Our prototype of the Bubble Blaster was well worth constructing."

"Now, all we need to do is put in the special bubbly liquid and test it out..." Tails said, walking over to the table where the special bubble mixture was sitting on.

Picking up the special mixture that Mina had managed to create for the blaster, Tails then walked back over and opened up the small glass compartment of the weapon, and with Mina holding the weapon in her hand, Tails carefully tipped the special bubble mixture into the blaster, which filled the glass compartment to the brim, before closing it up.

The weapon powered up a bit, as Mina held it in her hands. While she was getting used to holding the little weapon, Tails was looking around the workshop to see if they could test it on something. There were plenty of wrenches, bolts and even small screwdrivers to test it on, though it was very hard to choose from.

"Hmm..." Tails thought, "What could we test the Bubble Blaster on, Mina?"

Unaware to the two-tailed fox, while he was trying to choose from the many tools that he had on his table, Mina was feeling a little sneaky, as she was now aiming the powered up Bubble Blaster at Tails from behind. Since Tails had mentioned earlier that he had always wanted to feel what it was like to float around inside a bubble, Mina decided to make his childhood dream come true, though in a playful manner.

Giggling quietly to herself, Mina aimed the Bubble Blaster and then pulled the firing trigger on it. The blaster then fired out a blast of soapy bubble energy, which went flying across the room and straight for Tails.

And as soon as Tails turned around, he barely had any time to react, before he was suddenly hit with the bubble energy, where a large bouncy bubble then trapped him inside of it, shocking him in surprise, as he got trapped inside the bouncy bubble which gently landed on the floor of the workshop.

"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed, "Mina?!"

"Hee-hee!" Mina giggled, walking to the bubble trapped Tails, "I think I've found something we can test it on! You!"

Tails looked around inside the Bubble he was trapped inside of. He tried to punch his way out of it, but because the bubble mix he had created earlier was made to be bouncy and invulnerable, this proved ineffective. It definitely surprised him though, as his footing inside the bubble was a bit unstable.

He then tried jumping inside of it, although this made the bubble bounce up a bit, before the realization hit him like a ton of bricks: His childhood dream of being inside of a bubble came true!

With eyes now sparkling in excitement and a bright smile taking over his confused frown, Tails began to laugh happily a bit, as Mina smiled at seeing her new friend getting excited about having his childhood dream coming true.

"This is amazing, Mina!" Tails exclaimed, happily, "I can't believe I'm actually inside a bubble!"

"I see that you're feeling really happy now, little Tails..." Mina chuckled, before picking the bubble up gently in her hands, "Care for a little bounce around the workshop?"

"Oh, yes please, Mina!" The six year old two tailed fox replied, excitedly, "Let's see if this really works!"

As the fox giggled in anticipation in much the same way he would whenever Sonic tickled him, Mina slammed her fist down on top of the bubble. As she backed away, the bubble brought Tails flying right up to the ceiling before he came back down and bounced off the floor again.

"Wow!" he shouted excitedly, "This is so much fun! Just like I dreamed it would be! WEEEEEEEE! YAH HOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mina laughed happily as she watched her new friend having the time of his life. In less than 24 hours, she had already treated him to so much fun that he couldn't have pictured himself having for a long time; first a dance, and now bubble bouncing. It was all too good to be true for Tails. He felt so happy to have Mina as a new special friend.

Soon, the bubble started going sideways and began to bounce off the side walls.

"Whooooaaa, ho, hoooooo! Weeee, haaaaaaaa!" Tails chortled like he was on a roller coaster, "This is aweeeeeeesooooooooome!"

"Are you enjoying yourself up there, Tails?" called Mina, as the bubble came slowing to a bouncy stop.

"I'm loving this, Mina!" replied Tails when he was close enough to her, "Thanks so much! You've really become such a good friend so quickly!"

Mina laughed, "I'm happy to treat a cute, little fox to some fun! Any friend of Sonic's is a friend of mine, too!"

To keep the bouncing excitement going, Mina bounced the bubble again, which sent Tails on another roller coaster like bubble ride around his workshop.

"Weeeeeeeeeee!" yelled Tails delightfully, enjoying his bouncy joyride, "Yahhoooo!"

"He is such a sweet, little soul," Mina said quietly to herself as she watched the kid bounce around happily, "He is so adorable when he's having fun. I think Sonic would be proud of me for making one of his childhood dreams come true."

Tails bounced around the workshop for ten minutes before he eventually grew tired and dizzy from all the bouncing. While it was fun, it could get very dizzy after a while.

"I'm … getting … dizzy!" he said in a cheerful yet slightly clumsy voice, indicating how tired he was, "I think … we should stop now, … Mina."

"Okay, Tails," chuckled Mina.

She pulled out a special pin that they had fitted into the Bubble Blaster, and she waited until Tails was close enough. Once the bubble came down right next to her, she charged the pin at the bubble, and it popped, splashing a bit of bubble mix on Tails' fur. Mina giggled at the sight of the cute, little fox covered in bubble mix, and she picked him up and brought him back to the house across the lawn before grabbing a napkin and washing off his face.

"That was so much fun!" chuckled Tails, "Just like I dreamed it to be!"

"I'm so glad you had fun, Tails!" said Mina happily.

"Mina, … thanks so much … for all your help," said Tails in a sweet, innocent voice.

"Aww, you're welcome, little Tails," replied Mina.

She was about to hug Tails again when she remembered that he still had bubble mix all over him.

"I think you should take a bath, little one," she giggled, "I'll wait in the kitchen and treat you to a nice snack."

"Okay, Mina," smiled Tails, "Maybe, if we ever make improvements to the bubble mix someday, we can make it so that when a bubble is popped, it doesn't send a big mess flying everywhere."

"It's a deal, little one," agreed Mina.

The two shared a high-five, and Tails walked into his bathroom to wash himself off. Mina walked into the kitchen and looked around for something to give Tails for a snack. She had been told by Sonic that Tails' favorite food was Cocoa Rings cereal, but he only ate that for breakfast. Aside from that, he even had a soft spot for ice cream and minty candy.

"Hmm," whispered Mina, "I think I'll take a very quick peek in the freezer."

She did just that, and she found a small package of rectangular ice cream sandwiches. Each sandwich was made up of two chocolate bases with vanilla ice cream in between.

"Wow," she gasped quietly, "Sonic wasn't kidding when he said Tails really loves ice cream."

A moment later, the sound of the shower stopped and the ambience was limited to just birds chirping outside, and the waves crashing gently against the shoreline right outside the windows on the west side of the house.

Acting swiftly, Mina swiped two ice cream sandwiches from the freezer and quietly shut the freezer door, then she waited at the kitchen table, hiding the sandwiches behind her back.

Not a moment too soon, Tails emerged from the bathroom. His yellow and white fur looked sparkling clean again. A smile was still plastered in his face as he still couldn't believe he had finally gotten to live one of his dreams from when he was a toddler.

The fox noticed Mina appearing to hide something behind her back as she stood next to the kitchen table, smiling at him. He knew she was up to something that would make him even happier, and he giggled in anticipation of what it might be …

"Surprise!" said Mina, revealing the ice cream sandwiches in her hands and holding one of them out to Tails.

The fox gasped excitedly with an adorable, beaming smile, and he happily accepted the ice cream sandwich and unwrapped the paper around it.

"Mina, you are so sweet!" he chuckled, and he took his first bite.

"I know you are, too, Tails!" replied Mina.

"Aww!" blushed Tails, "Other than Sonic, Amy and Knuckles, no one else has ever been this nice to me until you came along. I'm so flattered. Th-thank you … s-so much."

"You're very welcome, little Tails," smiled Mina, hugging Tails again, "It's such a pleasure being able to make friends with a cute, six-year-old two-tailed fox who is smarter than anyone else I know. I can tell that you have a bright future ahead of you, and I'll be happy to help make that happen. You're very sweet and caring, and you're always willing to help Sonic whenever he needs it."

"I must admit I've doubted for a while that I might have a bright future ahead of me," sighed Tails sadly, "You know that everyone tends to bully me all the time."

"Listen, Tails," said Mina, kneeling in front of Tails again and holding him gently, "If you always believe in yourself every day and put your mind to what you want to do, you'll be able to stand up to your friends and foes and show them what you're made of and what you can accomplish. Never, ever give up, Tails, and most importantly, … always believe in what you really are, … because if you do then you'll go far."

Tails listened with amazement at Mina's words, and he felt a newfound strength within his heart that told him it was time to start believing in what he could do and that the future would like bright if he put his mind to it.

"Did … Sonic come up with that for you?" he asked awkwardly.

"Nope," chuckled Mina, "I thought of all that myself."

She then thought to herself, "Those actually sound like good lyrics."

"Thank you so much," sniffled Tails as his lips quivered, "You've given me a new reason to keep going with my inventions."

"Promise me … that you'll never give up, Tails, … even in the darkest of times," said Mina.

Tails held up his pinky finger and replied, "I pinky promise."

"That's a good little one," smiled Mina.

With Tails' cheeks blushing again, the two brought their pinky fingers together to seal Tails' vow, and they resumed eating their ice cream sandwiches. They could already feel a "little brother – big sister" bond growing between them, but it wouldn't compare to how Mina was beginning to feel for the fox's big brother.

* * *

Returning to the present time, Tails was smiling to himself as he remembered the fun he had with Mina, creating the prototype Bubble Blaster and being bounced around the workshop, it brought warm feelings of happiness to his heart. What he didn't know was that Zooey was watching him thinking about his fun times with the bubbles, and the vixen thought her boyfriend was adorable whenever he remembers something fun.

"Those were great times that Mina and I had together..." Tails finished, looking at his friends, as he picked up the current modern Bubble Blaster, "We made the prototype of this weapon, shared some ice cream sandwiches and basically formed a new brother and sister like bond together."

"Sounds like you and Mina had a special friendship ahead of you back then, Tails..." Amy said, smiling at her fox friend.

"They sure did..." Sonic agreed, chuckling, "Mina certainly knew how to make my little brother happy whenever he hanged out with her. Though sometimes, Tails could be a little cheeky since he used to tease me almost all the time, when Mina and I eventually got together."

The group then gasped lightly, as they heard the words 'eventually got together', and as soon as the blue hedgehog had seen the surprised looks on their faces, Sonic knew that he had just walked himself right into the part of telling them about his relationship with Mina Mongoose.

"How did you guys get together?" Zooey asked, excitedly.

"Yeah! How did you get together with her?!" Knuckles asked as well, acting almost the same like Zooey.

"Did she have some sort of alien like love power to cast you under her spell?" Sticks questioned suspiciously, only to earn a glare from Amy, causing the badger to say, "What? Just spit balling here!"

Sonic looked at the three in front of him, before glancing over to Tails, who gave him a nod to tell their friends about how he and Mina got to together. Sonic turn turned to glance at Amy, who also gave him a nod, before looking down to the ground, thinking about something that was bugging her in her mind, and something which will be revealed later on in the story.

Sighing, and taking a deep breath, Sonic turned to the group and began telling them the small side story of how he got together with the girl he loved five years ago.

"Well, a few days later after the dance event..." Sonic began to say, "I was hanging out with Mina more often, getting to know her more as my new friend. But as we hanged out, my feelings for her kept getting stronger and warmer, and it nearly made me a nervous wreck every time I was around her. whenever Mina asked me if I was okay, I would just panic and run away for a bit."

"Sounds like your average everyday fairy tale..." Amy quietly said to herself.

"But anyways..." Sonic continued, "That's beside the point. Now, on the day that we eventually got together, it all started off with Mina giving my little brother some small lessons in musicianship..."

* * *

 ** _Tails and Mina have gotten to know each other much better, and the fox has enjoyed a moment he's dreamed of since he was a toddler. However, it's nothing compared to how Mina will eventually feel for Sonic..._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER SEVEN: Tails gets a few lessons in musicianship. Sonic and Mina spend some time alone together on a mountain, and a new feeling sinks in...  
_**


	8. Chapter 7: Newfound Love

**_CHAPTER 7_**

 ** _New Found Love_**

* * *

A few days after the dance event took place, Knuckles and Perci were able to walk out of the hospital again, while Sonic was having his warm yet strange feelings for Mina Mongoose. These have been happening ever since he first met her in the jungle a few days back, and no matter how hard he tries, he just couldn't shake them off of himself.

And whenever Amy asked Sonic if there was something wrong, concerning on how he was feeling around Mina, Sonic would just panic a bit and then run off leaving Amy's question unanswered.

A few days later, Mina was visiting Tails again. She had spent a couple of days hanging out with Sonic, and this afternoon she had decided to see Tails and check on how Sonic's little brother was doing. Tails and Mina had tested out their new prototype Bubble Blaster together, they soon got to know each other really well, as well as learning a few new things about each other.

While Mina was beginning to develop the same kind of feelings for Sonic, unaware that Sonic was crushing on her, she had also gained a soft spot for Tails. She could already see Tails as a "little brother" figure just as much as Sonic did, and she occasionally began to start coming over to give him some fun and make sure he had a good time.

On this particular afternoon, Sonic had planned to spend the evening with Mina, and he had paid a brief visit to her house to tell her that he wanted to hang out with her in the mountains later that day. Mina agreed and told him she would be spending the morning with Tails and give him some company, and that he should meet her there. The hedgehog welcomed the idea warmly, as he thought it would be a good way to surprise Tails before they left.

At the moment, Mina was giving Tails a little lesson in musicianship. The fox had been curious enough to ask Sonic about how skilled Mina was at music, and his response was asking the mongoose to show the fox what she could do. She had brought her synthesizer keyboard with her to Tails' house for the morning, which greatly surprised him, and now she was teaching him a few notes.

The keyboard, which had been set up in Tails' living room for this session, looked and sounded like something from the 1980s, and although it was old, Tails was fascinated by the energetic sci-fi-like sounds of it.

"Having your fingers at the right place at the right time is the real key, Tails," Mina said, as she demonstrated with Tails observing carefully, "Pun intended."

Tails chuckled at the pun and kept his eyes on Mina's fingers as she played along. Although the lesson had gotten off to a slow start with a few mistakes, Tails was slowly starting to get the hang of it the more he tried after watching Mina play. Her warm encouragement greatly helped him as well.

Soon, Mina finished playing, and she gently pulled Tails back to the center of the couch. The keyboard had been placed on top of the couch table with the legs adjusted. And once that was done, the fox was ready for another go.

Rather than play exactly what Mina had played, Tails decided to do a tune of his own, and he applied his good memory of keys to the test as he started off his tune that quickly gave them vibes that made them want to see what music was really like in the 80s. The sounds of the synthesizer were music to Tails' ears, and he suddenly wished he could play these old school sounds all day.

Mina listened with a smile as Tails played away. He didn't make any more mistakes, and the fact that this tune was his own further amazed her. Just an hour ago, Tails had never played a musical instrument of any kind, but now here he was, playing a synthesizer like a top-notch student.

"Wow," she whispered to herself.

Soon, Tails ended his tune by holding several keys down in a long ending chord. This single chord lasted for about ten seconds, as the fade out was very slow.

Just as the last chord died down into silence, Tails lifted his fingers off the keys, and Mina applauded him delightfully.

"That was amazing, Tails!" Mina cheered, "You're the only person I've ever seen get used to the keyboard in just one day! You really do have a bright brain!"

"Hehe!" chuckled Tails, blushing deeply, "Thanks, Mina."

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Tails flinched. However, Mina quickly calmed him down and walked to the door, which wouldn't be a problem anymore, since Tails had finally fixed the floor.

"Is it you, Sonic?" she asked through the door.

"It sure is, Mina!" came Sonic's voice from the other side.

The door opened, and there stood the blue hedgehog himself, with a happy grin on his face.

"Surprise! Hey there, little bro!" he called to Tails as he stepped in.

"Hi, Sonic!" replied Tails excitedly.

"I see my cute, little one's all bright and cheerful!" commented Sonic as Mina closed the door, "How's the lesson going?"

"You should have heard him just now, Sonic," smiled Mina, "It took him just one hour to start playing the keyboard like a star!"

"Whoa! Really!?" gasped Sonic in surprise, "That sure didn't take long!"

"Wanna hear a little something that Mina taught me, big bro?" asked Tails.

"I'd be delighted, my little brother!" chuckled Sonic, and he and Mina sat down on the couch.

Mina sat to Tails' right, while Sonic sat to his left. The fox took a few deep breaths to mentally prepare himself. He couldn't help but feel nervous about playing in front of his big brother, even if he was always so warm and loving to him. However, he soon gained the courage he needed, and he slowly placed his fingers down to start his tune again for Mina and Sonic to hear.

Once the tune was in its rhythm, Sonic listened in stunned silence. He was amazed that his little brother was already playing so well. The fact that it was being played in C-major further gave him strange chills, as it reminded him of the few occasions he did stumble across small examples of 80's synth music, primarily by picking up an old vinyl of Van Halen's "Jump" at the flea market, and by stumbling upon a certain SEGA-made laserdisc arcade machine while visiting another island a few years ago.

The tune lasted for one minute before Tails wrapped it up with his long ending chord by holding those C-major keys down until the long, slow fade out was reduced to silence.

"Wow," said Sonic, "Tails, that was so amazing! You really are such a fast learner!"

Tails chuckled sheepishly again. Although he felt embarrassed, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself after hearing his big brother praise him warmly.

"You're quite a good teacher, Mina," Tails said softly.

"I may be, but you really did learn very quickly," replied Mina, "I'm proud of you."

"Aww," blushed Tails with a bright grin, and Sonic and Mina both hugged him at the same time. The fox felt so warm by having them both hug him like this.

Somehow, for this one moment, all three of them felt as if they were one little happy family. By Tails' side was not only his big brother, but also a new friend whom Sonic seemed to be secretly crushing on.

"So, Sonic, wanna race up to the mountains?" asked Mina cheekily once the three let go of each other.

"Oh, you're on, Mina!" answered Sonic.

"Wait! Mina, aren't you forgetting your keyboard is still here?" Tails pointed out.

"Don't worry, Tails," said Mina, "I'll leave it in your capable hands until I come back for it later. In the meantime, why don't you practice some more? It'll do your world a good."

"I suppose so," agreed Tails somewhat doubtfully.

"Maybe once we come back, you'll have another tune to play for us," chuckled Sonic, "You really are getting very good at it, lil' bro."

"Thanks, Sonic," giggled Tails.

Sonic and Mina stood up and headed for the door.

"We'll be back, Tails!" called Mina.

"Be good, okay?" said Sonic.

"Sonic, you don't have to be like that to me!" blushed Tails in embarrassment.

"Just playin' with ya, pal! I know you're always a good little one!" laughed Sonic, "Oh, and take special care of Mina's keyboard!"

"I will!" Tails replied.

"Bye, Tails!" Sonic and Mina both called.

"Bye, guys!" responded Tails before the door closed, and the fox started thinking of something more advanced to play on Mina's synthesizer.

Sonic and Mina stood side-by-side next to the house. Just before they started, they could hear the sound of Tails starting to experiment with his new skills on the keyboard.

"Tails really learns so quickly," commented Mina.

"He sure does. Such a smart, little guy," chuckled Sonic with a smile.

"So, ready to be beaten again, Sonic?" teased Mina.

"Oh, I don't think so!" the hedgehog responded.

"We'll see about that!" said Mina.

"Ready?" said Sonic, and he and Mina got into a starting position, "Set."

They each took a few deep breaths, then finally …

"Go!"

In an instant, both were speeding down the hill and heading through the small town, passing through the quiet village and heading into the forest at supersonic speed.

In the house, Tails turned around and peeked over the couch to look into the kitchen. He found his windows clouded with blue and purple dust. He knew exactly what had happened, and he laughed heartily. The thought of Sonic racing against Mina just tickled him, since he enjoyed the feeling that his big brother was racing against a sweet mongoose girl.

"I wonder who'll win this time?" he chuckled to himself, and he turned back to Mina's keyboard and continued playing.

In the forest, Sonic and Mina were still side-by-side as they shifted lanes to dodge the many trees that got in their path. They ran right through some bushes and sent leaves flying everywhere, but even those wouldn't stop them so easily. Nothing can really stop these two speedsters, that's for sure.

"This one is so gonna be mine!" bragged Sonic.

"Think again, Sonic!" responded Mina, and she let out a burst of speed and quickly left Sonic in the dust.

"Hey! Come back here!" Sonic shouted, but she was already far ahead, "Oh, I'm not falling for that again! I've got one of my own!"

With those words, the blue hedgehog let out a burst of his own and soon caught up with Mina as they got to the end of the forest and out into the open hills. The sun was still in the sky, although judging by the atmosphere up above, it looked like the evening was slowly coming in over the island.

"Thought you'd lose me that easily, huh?" he said.

"Oh, we're just getting started!" replied Mina.

Just as Sonic was surging ahead, Mina pulled alongside him again, and they raced up a hill side-by-side. Clouds of blue and purple carpeted the trails they left behind as they ran across the grassy hillside.

Once they reached the top of the hill, the mountains could be seen far in the distance. They looked as though they could be about twenty miles away, but at the speed Sonic and Mina were running, they could theoretically reach the top of the mountain in just a minute from where they were.

Then, they had to dodge some trees that seemingly popped out of nowhere due to the speed they were running at. They felt like they were in an old arcade racing game where graphic limitations meant that objects could only be seen from up close. Everything happened so suddenly.

Sonic was so close to hitting one tree that had had to slow down a little. This allowed Mina to pull away from him, coating the hedgehog in purple dust. While they raced along, Sonic's feelings for this girl were coming back to him again.

"Bye, Sonic!" called Mina, teasingly waving to him, as she ran ahead.

However, the hedgehog wasn't giving up just yet …

He applied another sudden burst and blasted right past Mina, much to her surprise, and he began his journey up a mountain pathway that would lead all the way to the top.

"I will not lose this time!" he said to himself as he set all his concentration on countering the twisty turns of the pathway.

The path was like an uphill rally stage, with so many twisting corners and hairpin turns that required them to slow down and save their speed for the straight lines. Now, it wasn't just about speed, but also about taking the curves smoothly.

Mina managed to catch up to Sonic again while the hedgehog was being a little too cautious, and they were once again side-by-side. Now it seemed like neither would get the edge.

"I think this must be mine!" teased Mina.

"Oh, no, it won't!" replied Sonic.

Just as Mina was about to pull ahead, Sonic took the inside line in the final corner, and now it was down to the last uphill straight to the top. The mongoose put on one last burst of speed, but a few milliseconds later, Sonic did the same, and he managed to stay ahead by just a few inches.

Slowly but surely, the top of the mountain came within striking distance, and Mina began to slow herself down, albeit too early, as Sonic waited a few extra milliseconds before he slowed himself down, too.

Finally, they got to the top of the last hill, and Sonic hit the mountaintop less than half of a second before Mina, and they skidded to a stop on the cold, snowy surface.

"Yes!" Sonic cheered in delight, "Finally! I have proven that I am once again the champion of being the fastest thing alive!"

"I suppose you're right," panted Mina, as she came to a stop next to him.

"We're even now, Mina!" chuckled Sonic, "One for you, one for me!"

"Fair deal!" giggled Mina, and the two shook hands on it.

Seeing the setting sun far in the horizon, the hedgehog and mongoose then sat down close together on the snow, and watched the sun slowly setting in the horizon. Sonic was once again feeling nervous about his hidden warm feelings for Mina, although he felt like he could t keep them hidden away for any much longer than the next five or three minutes, at least.

Trying to at least keep himself calm, Sonic sat with Mina in the snow and watched the sunset with her, although his eye focus started shifting back and forth between the sun and the mongoose.

"It's so beautiful up here, isn't it, Sonic?" Mina asked, sighing a bit at the sunset's beauty.

"Oh! Um, y-yes, it is beautiful tonight, Mina..." Sonic stuttered, shaking his head a bit, "Sorry, I was just a few miles out of the way."

Mina giggled at Sonic for his cute little stuttering. She found him to be quite adorable when he acted like this, though she enjoyed seeing him smile whenever she was around him, as like in the last couple days they have gotten to know each other.

"Whenever I feel like I need something to take my mind off, I just come racing up to this mountain..." Mina then explained, "Its so beautiful and peaceful here, that it almost makes you want to fall in love with it."

"I... I'll bet it would..." Sonic agreed, chuckling nervously, "Usually I just run straight through places like this."

"But, by doing that, you're missing out on nature's most beautiful sights..." Mina pointed out, "There's so many peaceful places and spots all over this island, that you just cannot ford to run past them and miss out on seeing their beauty, Sonic. Really, you need to slow down for once in your life and take in all of the wonderful sights of nature, before it all disappears during the autumn and winter times."

Sonic listened very carefully to Mina pointing out about needing to slow down and look at wonderful sights, and he took her words into consideration. Sure, he was known to just speed along at the speed of sound, and he was also known to fighting Eggman and his earlier designs of robots he builds, but what he has never done that very much is actually stop, sit down and take in all of the beautiful sights that Bygone Island had to offer, even if he had to protect a decently small and less than populated village in the middle of this island.

Sonic then turned to Mina, before he said, "I'll take that advice into mind, the next time I'm running about the place, Mina. T-Thanks for giving me a bit of a hint for next time I run to places like this."

"Hehe, you're welcome, Sonic..." Mima replied, giggling and gently smoothing a hand on Sonic's cheek, making him blush.

While Mina smiled and continued to look out at the setting sun, Sonic grabbed some snow from beneath his feet and tried to rub it across his head to cool himself down from his nervous state. But even with some cold snow to try and cool the mind, this proved to be useless. His arm somehow had the bugging urge to wrap it around Mina's shoulder and bring her closer to him, as this was a common gesture that some couples do. However, Sonic managed to stop his arm and keep it down by his side, although his feelings for Mina were becoming stronger once again.

As he was trying not to struggle with his current dilemma, Sonic's mind began to think about Mina again, but this time, when he first met her in the jungle and when he heard her singing voice just a few days ago. He felt like he was actually falling in love with Mina than having a crush on her.

Then, as the feelings got too overwhelming for Sonic, he came to a decision.

Finally deciding to tell the mongoose girl that he really liked her, even if he was not really one for romance, Sonic turned to face Mina, who was still smiling and looking out to the horizon of the setting sun. It was now or never, and if he chose never, Sonic may regret not telling Mina his feelings for the rest of his life, in case she decides to move away in the future.

Turning to face her, Sonic decided to let it out at last.

"Hey Mina..." Sonic said, sweat dropping a little, "I... uh, t-there's something that I have to tell y-you."

"What is it, Sonic?" Mina asked, smiling and turning to face Sonic, before noticing his nervousness, "Hey, are you feeling alright? You're not normally this nervous?"

Sonic sighed to himself, wiping the sweat away from his head, before turning to face Mina, abandoning all of his nervousness, and gently taking Mina's hand in his, much to the mongoose's surprise. It was time to tell the feelings that the hedgehog has been feeling for this girl he rescued a few days back.

"Mina..." Sonic began, taking her hand in his, "I... I really like you. I think you're absolutely amazing."

"Oh, hehe, thank you, Sonic..." Mina giggled, blushing a little, "You're a very good friend, too."

"No ... I don't mean it like that, Mina..." Sonic replied, clearing his throat, "I mean... I like you, more than just my friend."

"H-Huh?" Mina then asked, confused at first, "Sonic, what are you trying to say to me?"

Knowing that there was no turning back now, Sonic mustered up his courage and removed any nervousness that could possible hinder his confession to the girl he was crushing on.

As the sun was coming closer to setting in the horizon where the sparkling ocean was seen from the reflection of the sun, the time for Sonic's confession to be said and done.

"Mina..." Sonic started up again, holding the girl's hand in his, "When I first met you in that jungle, before Eggman kidnapped you, I thought of you as the most beautiful girl I had ever come across on this whole island. You have wonderful hair, your singing voice is incredible and it's so wonderful when you sing, you skills in dancing at that dance event a few days ago was absolutely amazing, and you are just about as faster as me when we are running together. To put it simply Mina, you're absolutely wonderful to me."

Mina could only quietly gasp in wonder and happiness, as her eyes sparkled with love and happiness, as the blue hedgehog's kind and loving words were making her feel really happy and grateful that she had a friend like this hedgehog, although that was just the beginning, because her feelings for Sonic that she hadn't told him yet were beginning to come back to her again.

Sonic then carried on with his confession, as Mina's heart began to beat with warmth and happiness, with her secret crush on Sonic beginning to turn into more than just a simple crush.

"I ... I've been meaning to tell you, Mina..." Sonic continued, "That I have been developing these strange new feelings for you, as of these recent days. I've been having a crush on you, which is really rare for me to have, since I don't normally have a crush or an attraction to any other girl on this island, but with you, I feel like I'm much more happier when I'm with you. As I said before, you run at speeds like me, we both like chilli dogs, and we both care a lot about my little brother, Tails, even if you're more like a big sister to him."

Sonic took a quick breather, before continuing on, saying, "I've really started to like you, Mina, but as I said, more than just an ordinary friend. Normally, I'm not one to actually fall in love, but with you, you're wonderful and amazing, and you have the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard from any other person I've known on this island."

Mina just quietly listened to Sonic's words and she was absolutely awestruck by his sweet words of his confession to having a crush on her. She felt really touched by the hedgehog's words about her, especially saying that she had a beautiful singing voice, given that Sonic was so far the only person to say anything nice about her talent before. And her feelings for Sonic were now strong and feeling more warm and happy, as her secret crush on Sonic started turning into her falling in love with him.

Turning to face Sonic again, this time with happy sparkling eyes, Mina placed her other free hand into Sonic's free hand, as she started expressing her love to him, and this would make the blue hedgehog feel more happier than before. The mongoose girl even took the liberty of scooting closer to Sonic, who then just automatically did the same thing the girl did and scoot close to her.

"S-Sonic..." Mina began, a small tear of happiness coming into her eye, "You're very sweet for saying that to me. When you and Tails rescued me from that horrible Eggman, it was like you saved me from becoming something that I never ever wanted to become, and that was being an emotionless, evil robot. I've already had my parents go missing a while ago, I didn't want to loose my own free will either, and become a horrible robot. But when you guys saved me, you seemed so determined to keep me from being made a robot. And I will forever and always will be grateful to the both of you for saving my life."

Sonic looked briefly away and chuckled in response, while blushing a bit from Mina's compliment, before he turned back to face her, seeing that her sparkly eyed expression had not once changed or faulted for one bit.

"For a while as well, Sonic..." Mina then continued, "I ... I've been having similar feelings for you too. At first, I looked to you as my new best friend, and your other friends like Tails, Knuckles and Amy are very nice too, but with you, I've been having a bit of a crush on you too, Sonic. After you were the first to say something nice about my singing voice, my heart felt so happy and warm, that someone actually liked my special talent. Until you came into my life, not one of those really old villagers who used to live here liked my singing or songs at all. They just laughed at me and brushed me off like a bad singer with no talent. That's way I have been keeping my songs and music locked away in my closet, so no one will be able to make fun of me. Thankfully though, once the new villagers moved in, I didn't have anyone complain about me, though I still kept my music sheets away for obvious reasons. But that's beside the point. You, Sonic the Hedgehog, were the first person to really like my singing, and I was really happy to have you listen to me sing a few lines from one of my old song sheets the other day. You're a really sweet guy, and awfully cute too if I might add."

Being called cute, Sonic blushed really red from Mina calling him that. Not one of the girls in town ever called him cute, although sometimes he thought that he could hear people like Perci or Amy say that he was cute, though he'd never really get much of a reaction from that. With Mina though, that was different, since she had just made him blush after calling him cute.

"And I might add..." Mina spoke again, this time with a little bit of a flirty tone in her voice, "You are just about as sweet as a sugar plum, Sonic."

"Oh, heh-heh, t-thanks Mina..." Sonic responded, his blush intensifying, "You're an extremely sweet girl."

A new feeling then came into their minds, as they scooted a little more closer to each other, until their faces were close to one another's. This was pretty much the moment where these two would fall in love with each other and become a couple in a relationship, that would start a new life for the two of them together.

With their hands now clasped together, Sonic and Mina looked at each other's eyes and while Mina's yes became half closed and she gave a loving smile to her crush, Sonic was still a little bit nervous at falling in love with someone, since he has never done that ever before in his whole life on Bygone Island. But this was a new chapter in his life, and hopefully it would get better from there.

Bringing Mina closer to him, Sonic then finally let out his proclamation of his hidden love to her, putting a smile on his face as he did.

"I... I l-love you, Mina Mongoose..." Sonic said, a bit stuttering, which made Mina giggle.

"And I love you too ... sugar plum..." Mina replied, giving Sonic a new nickname, as she proclaimed her new love for him.

Chuckling and blushing a bit at his nickname, Sonic then closed his eyes and slowly leaned in to receive his first kiss from the girl he was now in love with. Mina in turn, leaned in to him and before long, the two started sharing their first ever kiss together on the snow topped mountain, wrapping their arms around each other and sitting on the small mound of snow as a new couple, just as the sun finally settled beyond the horizon, leaving only a mix red and orange skies, which perfected the scene for the two new lovers.

Sonic the Hedgehog's inner feelings were by now sky rocketing with new found feelings for love and warmth. He had never kissed a girl ever before in his life, and here he was now, sharing his first ever kiss with Mina Mongoose, the girl he had recently been crushing on for a few days, who had now become his first and official girlfriend on Bygone Island. He felt so happy inside his soul, that he hoped that his new relationship with Mina would last forever.

Mina Mongoose was feeling exactly the same things that her new boyfriend Sonic was going through. She was also feeling love and warm inside her heart and soul, and she had never kissed a boy before, until she was right now kissing the blue hedgehog that had made her feel so much happier in her life, since the disappearance of her parents. Mina felt sure that she and Sonic would remain in their relationship for a long time, although little did they know that fate would always have something different in mind later on.

Eventually, after a minute later of sharing their first kiss together, Sonic and Mina finally ended their kiss and looked at each other and s,I led lovingly into each other's eyes. They have never felt or been this happy in their lives since for who knows how long. It looks like they would be happy together in their new relationship for quite some time.

At last, Sonic spoke up again, but now he was no longer nervous, as he was feeling a bit love struck by this beautiful mongoose that he had just shared his first kiss with.

"So, Mina Mongoose..." Sonic said, "Would you like to become my official girlfriend?"

"Hehe, you know my answer is going to be yes, Sonic..." Mina replied, laughing, "The question is though, would you like to become my boyfriend?"

"I would absolutely love to..." Sonic responded, grinning at his new official girlfriend, showing how much happier he was.

The two then quickly shared another kiss with one another, before they pulled away from each other and shared a hug together. They definitely had a new life ahead of them, though they would be unaware of what fate would have in store for them much later on.

Standing up, Sonic took Mina by the hand, as they looked into each other's eyes, showing their new love and happiness for each other.

"So, what should we do as a first date for tomorrow?" Sonic asked curiously, "I've never really been on a date with a girl before."

"Well, I know a really good place that I like to go to, somewhere in the jungle..." Mina replied, giggling, "We'll have a picnic there tomorrow, though I will keep this place a surprise for you tomorrow. I'll leave a little hand drawn map on my front door to let you know on where you need to meet up with me."

"Okay, Mina..." Sonic responded, chuckling, "For now, shall we race back home, or would you rather walk back home?"

Giggling to herself, Mina gave Sonic a teasing kiss on the cheek, making him blush a bit again, knowing that the mongoose could never resist the challenge of having a race with her new boyfriend.

"You know that I can't resist racing you home, sugar plum!" Mina laughed, "This time, I'll beat you home!"

"Oh, you are so on now, Mina!" Sonic replied, returning to his challenging yet kind-hearted attitude to her, "I'm ready whenever you are!"

"Alright then!" Mina laughed again, letting go of Sonic's hands, "If you want to win, Sonic, you'll have to think fast and catch me first!"

Before Sonic could utter another cheeky comment back to his girlfriend, the mongoose girl then quickly took off at a burst of purple speed, and ran quickly down the snow topped mountain, leaving Sonic behind in a purple dust cloud. This left the blue hedgehog to cough a bit from the dust, before it cleared and he soon smirked as he then took off after his new girlfriend, who was by now the love of his life.

"You'll soon be caught by the fastest hedgehog alive, Mina Mongoose!" Sonic called out, as his raced down the hill and sped off after Mina, leaving behind his trademark blue aura.

Once the two were off the mountain, Sonic caught up with Mina, and they sped down the grassy hillside just as they did a short while ago, only now the sight was much more beautiful with the sun setting on the western horizon. The colorfulness was almost enough to bring their attention away from their race, but they quickly snapped out of it and raced side-by-side, dodging trees that again seemed to pop out of nowhere because of how fast they were going.

"I'll bet ya can't beat me two times in a row!" snickered Mina.

"Oh, I will!" replied Sonic, and he suddenly burst himself ahead just before they entered the forest.

Mina chuckled as she knew that the village wouldn't be very far now. She felt certain that this was not over yet.

"Too soon, sugar plum!" she chuckled, and just as Sonic had to dodge a line of large trees, she let out a sudden burst of her own and caught up to him easily.

Sonic was surprised by how Mina had caught up to him so quickly, but he refused to let his concentration slip away as he tried to outmaneuver her. Their blurs left clouds of blue and purple smoke that turned the forest behind them into an even more colorful sight.

Soon, they found that gap between two trees that would indicate that the village was just ahead, and barely an instant later, they were back in the open light of dusk. Several small buildings were now surrounding them as they sped down one of the streets. The civilians didn't even have time to recognize them before they sped right past them, and they were left facing clouds of purple and blue.

They each let out speed bursts at exactly the same millisecond, and neither got ahead of the other before Mina's house finally came into view. They skidded to a stop right at her front door.

"Well, sugar plum, I guess we can call that one a tie," commented Mina.

"I suppose you're right," agreed Sonic, "One win, one loss, and now one tie to make it all complete."

Mina giggled at this, and the two gently held hands.

"Sonic, … this has been such a special day for me, and one that I'll never forget," said Mina softly.

"Me neither," said Sonic, "I had never experienced anything like this … until today."

"So, … wanna go on another date tomorrow?" offered Mina.

"Sure, sweetie," said Sonic delightfully, "I would love that."

"Come over here again tomorrow morning, and I'll tell you where we'll be going," chuckled Mina.

"Okay, Mina," agreed Sonic with a smile.

"Well, I wish we could stay and chat for a few more minutes, but, like you, I need my sleep," said Mina.

Sonic suddenly remembered, "Wait! What about your keyboard?"

"Tails can keep it for tonight, sugar plum. I'll come back for it tomorrow after we've had our date," smiled Mina.

"Okay then," nodded Sonic, "I'm sure he's having a good time with it, and I'm even more sure that he's good hands to it."

Mina laughed at Sonic's comment, and they looked lovingly at each other.

"Wanna kiss me before you go?" Mina asked, flirting playfully a bit.

"You know I would want nothing less than that," answered Sonic, and he brought his lips to Mina's and they engaged in a sweet, gentle kiss, gently wrapping their arms around each other in the process.

But they were so focused on their third kiss of the evening in their new relationship, that they failed to notice a certain pink hedgehog with several shopping bags in her hands, watching them with shock and disbelief. She hid behind a nearby building and eyed them with a tear coming out of her left eye. Amy's worst fear had come true; Sonic and Mina had fallen in love, and now they were starting a relationship together. It seemed too much for her to bear.

Soon, Sonic and Mina stopped their kiss and smiled at each other romantically. This had been the sweetest day of their lives together, and they hoped for many more of them to come.

"Well, sweetie, I guess I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning," said Sonic, "I'm gonna spend the night at Tails' house to make sure he's taking good care of your keyboard … and himself."

"Take care, sugar plum," said Mina, "And take good care of your little brother, too!"

"I will, my dear," said Sonic, and he turned away and waved to her, "See you tomorrow, Mina!"

"See you tomorrow, Sonic!" Mina called back, and she watched for a moment as her boyfriend walked away, then she closed the door.

Amy eyed Sonic as he left, being unaware of her presence, and she seethed with jealousy. She could not believe that the hedgehog that she had been secretly crushing on for some time had chosen somebody else over her. Her heart had swelled with so much jealousy that she just wanted to shout to the world in hurt and anger.

Unable to bear this new reality, the pink hedgehog turned away and walked slowly back to her house with her heavy shopping bags.

* * *

 ** _So, Mina has taught Tails a little bit about musicianship on her keyboard, and he's quickly learned a beat or two from it. And Sonic and Mina have finally revealed their feelings for one another and they are now in a relationship together, although they were unaware of Amy's presence, seeing them kiss and they are still unaware of her jealousy of the two of them together._**

 ** _And trust us, Amy will be jealous of these two for a while, so do be warned about this, as the story progresses!_**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER EIGHT: Sonic and Mina have their first date, and it goes even more amazing than they expected!_**


	9. Chapter 8: First Date - Mail Run

_**CHAPTER 8**_

 _ **First Date / Mail Run**_

* * *

Everyone had just finished listening to Sonic's take on how both he and Mina confessed their love for each other and shared their first kiss on the mountain top. It was really sweet to hear the blue hedgehog talking about his new found love for his past girlfriend before fate came in much later on.

Amy in particular could remember seeing Sonic and Mina sharing a kiss goodnight, before leaving for home, and that moment gave the pink hedgehog some uneasy feelings in her heart back then. Because she saw Sonic kissing Mina, Amy's jealousy by that time had almost sky rocketed through the roof, although there was more to that jealousy to reveal much later on in the backstory.

In the present time though, Amy smiled at Sonic, having hearing a story that he never spoke about for quite a while, and when she looked around the room, she could see everyone was enjoying it, particularly Zooey.

"Sounds like you and Mina fell in love almost as quickly as Tails and I fell in love with each other," chuckled Zooey.

Sonic chuckled as he found himself thinking about a very fond memory of his relationship with Mina. It brought a very warm and happy smile on his face, and it made his usually cocky and cool attitude change to a more calmer and happier attitude, since he loved Mina with all his heart back then.

"What is it, Sonic?" asked Amy curiously, making Sonic come out of his small dreamy trance.

"Oh, uh, … I was just … thinking about something very adorable that happened during our first date," recalled Sonic, clearing his throat in the process.

"Something adorable!?" shouted Sticks, as if on cue, "Ugh! I can't stand adorableness!"

"Sticks, calm down," giggled Zooey, "Besides, this is the past we're talking about now. You and I weren't around at the time, remember?"

"I know, but still!" complained Sticks, "Why does so much of this story have to be adorable!? It's one thing being cute to a little fluffy bunny rabbit in a pet store, when you're looking at him, but when you actually show your adorable love for someone else, it just makes you go all mushy and wobbly like red jelly!"

"Because it's just the way it happened to turn out," Tails pointed out, "There comes a time when adorableness goes around."

"Adorableness goes around?" asked Knuckles cluelessly, "You mean, it travels around the world and turns everyone into sweet kitty cats?"

"NO!" everyone else shouted, now clearly having had enough of the echidna's stupidity today.

"Uh, …" said Knuckles, scratching his head and shrugging his shoulders, "What did I say now?"

"So, what happened during your first date, Sonic?" asked Zooey, bubbling with excitement, "We really want to know what happened."

"Well, it was the day after Mina and I confessed our love to each other..." Sonic began to say, "After giving Tails a bowl of his favorite cereal for breakfast, I then went to meet Mina in the forest … in a spot that was not far from a duck pond. She always found that place so special to her."

"And there's more to the story as well to follow..." Tails added.

* * *

The next day, following last night's amazing mountain top run, Sonic was walking through the forest, listening happily to the birds chirping their sweet morning tunes. He had just finished giving Tails a bowl of his favorite cereal, which was Coco Rings, before he then left and picked up the small hand drawn map that Mina left for him on her house door to lead him to where they needed to meet in the jungle. Right now, Sonic was looking at the drawing of the small map, as he was walking along happily to himself, looking forward to his date.

Mina had mentioned something about a shallow creek that ran through this forest, and although she knew where it was, she decided not to tell the hedgehog where it was. Her plan was to surprise him when he arrived at the duck pond for their picnic. Now that they had confessed their love for each other, they felt that they should celebrate their love by going on a picnic in a beautiful forest that Mina had visited many times before.

Then, Sonic arrived at what looked like a small, shallow lake surrounded by many trees. Several different creeks were running from it in multiple directions. There were some tiny spots in the water that were lit by the sun through the holes in the forest canopy. He could only assume this was the lake that Mina was referring to.

That answer came not a moment too soon …

As the speedster stepped in between two trees, a familiar face suddenly appeared in front of him and shouted, "Surprise, sugar plum!"

Sonic jolted and took a step back, but he was delighted to see that it was Mina whom had surprised him, just as she said she would. A picnic basket and cloth was set up right next to the water.

"Wow! Mina, you really know how to surprise a hedgehog!" commented Sonic.

"How's my handsome hedgehog doing today?" asked Mina, making Sonic blush deeply.

"I'm … happier than I've been in a very long time," the hedgehog answered, smiling, "And I feel much less cocky like I always am, whenever I'm around my lovely new girlfriend."

Mina giggled at how sweet Sonic could be with words, as she kissed him on the cheek for the lovely little compliment.

"Would you care to join me for a chili dog lunch? Extra chili sauce and sodas included," chuckled Mina.

Sonic licked his lips at the thought of chili dogs featuring extra-flavoring chili sauce. It was the kind he always dreamed about. But with Mina presenting them to him, it made that dream even better.

"Count me in!" he said happily, and the two sat down on Mina's picnic cloth.

Mina pulled out two chili dogs and poured some extra sauce on each of them, being sure not to let the sauce miss the spaces in between the buns. Sonic's eyes were wide with excitement. Hardly a moment after their first date had begun, he would be enjoying his most favorite food in an extra special way. It felt too good to be true.

Mina then handed one chili dog to Sonic while keeping the other one for herself, and they began eating their lunches slowly. They wanted to enjoy the taste for as long as they could.

"This is so good," Sonic said after swallowing his first bite.

"I knew you'd love this, sugar plum," smiled Mina, "Something extra special just to share with you."

Sonic blushed and grinned at Mina, and they continued to enjoy their spicy chili dogs. The sauce soothed their taste buds like nothing else could. It felt like the perfect lunch on such a beautiful day and a first date together in the quiet forest, with no one else around to bother them for the day.

"So, what do you find so special about this place?" Sonic asked curiously.

"Well, I first found this place a few years ago, when I was trying to find a peaceful place to think of some lyrics to a song that never came to be," explained Mina, "It was so beautiful and peaceful that I loved it so much. Ever since then, I've often come to this place whenever I need some time alone with my thoughts. It's essentially my go-to place away from home."

Sonic was amazed at this, and he took some time to look at their surroundings. The water glistened in the sunlight, and the lily pads floated gently in the creeks that connected together. All that could be heard were the gentle rustling of the winds and the water flowing through the forest. Other than that, it was so quiet that they could stay here all day and not have to worry about anything.

However, it didn't stay super-quiet for long …

Just as the two finished off their chili dogs, they then heard what sounded like cute quacking. They perked up and listened to their surroundings, knowing that they apparently weren't alone anymore.

"I think we have company," commented Mina, feeling a little nervous at first that it could be another one of Eggman's ambushes.

Somehow feeling his girlfriend's tensed up state, Sonic looked around with a small glare of protectiveness on his face, before he spotted something that made his heart melt and his glare go away almost instantly. It seemed to be such an adorable sight for him, that he couldn't keep the glare on his face.

"Hey, Mina, look over there," Sonic whispered to his girlfriend.

Mina looked where Sonic was, and she gasped quietly as she noticed something so extraordinarily adorable …

There were two ducks appearing to look curiously around the pond, standing on a lily pad. With them were five cute ducklings, all quacking at their parents in an effort to get their attention. From the expressions on the parents' faces, it seemed as though they were trying to look for something, but weren't having much successful.

"I wonder what they're looking for?" said Mina thoughtfully.

"Maybe they're looking for another place to eat or drink," suggested Sonic, "They don't look very happy with the condition of their home. Maybe they've been living here for a while and want to find fresher water where there will be better food."

"I think you're right," agreed Mina.

Then, the five ducklings all turned their heads and looked directly at Sonic and Mina with cute and curious expressions on their little faces.

"Sssh," whispered Sonic, "I think we got their attention."

Sure enough, the five duckling children waddled onto the water and floated across the water, to where the two lovers were sitting. They climbed up the little hill that led from the pond to the land, and waddled up to the hedgehog and mongoose.

"Um, hello, little ones," said Sonic softly, "What are you kids up to?"

The five ducklings looked worryingly at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

"Are you looking for something?" asked Mina.

The ducklings nodded their heads in response, and the mongoose girl couldn't help but giggle a little cutely at the duckling's head nodding.

A moment later, their parents came to the shore, and once they noticed their children trying to interact with Sonic and Mina, they looked curiously up at the hedgehog and mongoose.

"Um, … what seems to be the problem?" asked Sonic.

The father sunk his head and looked around their pond. It seemed as if their home had seen better days and they longed to find a new one where they could raise their little family of duckling kids.

"I think they've outlived their home and want to find a new one," said Mina to Sonic.

The mother duck nodded in agreement, and the five ducklings quacked sadly and looked down. The sad sounds of their quacks and their sorrowful expressions just about brought tears to Mina's eyes and forced Sonic to let out a few sniffles. They felt so sorry for the poor duck family that they wished they could do anything to help them.

"Aww, please don't cry, little ones," said Mina, gently patting one duckling on the head, "Maybe we could help you."

All seven ducks perked their heads up and looked at her as if they were desperate, even if it was over a small little pond.

"You would like that?" asked Sonic.

The ducklings nodded eagerly. It brought grins to Sonic and Mina's faces to see the little ducklings so eager to let them help them out.

"Okay, little ones," said Mina, "I'll just put our picnic cloth into my basket, and we'll see if we can find another duck pond around these parts."

The ducklings quacked excitedly, prompting their parents to try calming them down. Sonic and Mina folded their cloth and stuffed it into Mina's picnic basket, which still had plenty of food they could enjoy later.

Then, the mongoose put the basket's handle over her shoulder and crouched down, holding her hands out.

"Would you like to go for a ride, little ones?" Mina asked kindly, eyes sparkling, "I'll be more than happy to carry you guys to your new home once we find one."

The ducklings seemed hesitant at first, but they saw how kind and sweet she appeared to be, and they slowly waddled into her hands, one by one in a little line with one behind the other. As soon as the five ducklings were in her hands, comfortably sitting together, Mina stood back up and held the five adorable little creatures in her hands.

"I'll take the children, Sonic, while you take the parents," Mina said to her boyfriend.

"Okay, sweetie," replied Sonic, and he slowly crouched down and gathered the mother and father duck in his hands.

"So, … where do you suppose there's another duck pond?" asked Sonic.

"Well, … I once noticed a duck pond that can't be too far from these creeks," said Mina thoughtfully, "Maybe this family has been trying to find a duck pond and got lost in the middle of this lake where so many creeks are intersecting."

"They probably had no idea which way to go," said Sonic, sighing a little sympathetically, "The poor little guys."

"I'm not entirely sure which creek we should take, but I think we should try the one that leads toward the west coast," suggested Mina.

"Are you sure we'll find a duck pond that close to the coastline?" asked Sonic.

"Like I said, sugar plum, I'm not so sure, but it's worth a try," answered Mina.

"Okay, sweetie..." Sonic replied, nodding to his girlfriend, "Let's find out together."

With that, the mongoose led the hedgehog down the creek that led northwest, which would lead to the western coastline just a few minutes a walk away. Mina carefully held the ducklings in her arms, along with the picnic basket on her shoulder, while Sonic held the parents in his hands. They both walked slowly so as not to risk dropping any of the ducks, or potentially even scaring them.

* * *

About eight minutes later, Sonic and Mina arrived at a place they could only say was absolutely beautiful …

It was a sparkling duck pond, just shy of the island's west coast. Water-coated rocks and lily pads filled the area, accompanied by water that sparkled in the partially-blocked sunlight. Several other duck families were here, too, enjoying the pond that was large enough to fit probably a hundred ducks.

"Wow ... look at this duck pond!" gasped Sonic.

"It's absolutely gorgeous!" Mina agreed, glancing to her boyfriend.

"And it looks just right for these little ones," added Sonic.

The ducklings in Mina's arms quacked excitedly as they saw just how many other ducks were there. It seemed like a paradise for them. The parents in Sonic's arms looked just as enthusiastic about this place. It was the perfect home for them to raise their five duckling children.

"I think these little ones can't wait to step in," chuckled Mina.

"Well then, let's see how they like this pond," said Sonic.

The hedgehog and mongoose sat down and gently let the ducks down into the pond. The parents floated on the water and waited for their children to come down. However, as the five ducklings jumped out of Mina's hands, they turned back and looked at her and Sonic sadly, and they walked back up and jumped into the hedgehog's hands.

"What is it, little ones?" asked Sonic worryingly.

The ducklings gave him some sad looks that told him that they would miss him and Mina. It seemed like the hedgehog and mongoose were their new friends that they didn't want to leave or forget about.

"Aww, I understand," whispered Sonic, gently patting their heads, "I'm glad you like having us around to keep you company, but you should get into the water now. Your parents are waiting for you to join them."

"Besides, you have a wonderful home now, and you can share it with so many neighbors..." Mina added, smiling gently, "You'll get to play with the other ducklings who live here. It'll be like having one big happy family here at this beautiful lake paradise for ducks."

The ducklings looked at their new home, and they were very amazed at how big the place looked compared to their old home, but they still wouldn't hop off Sonic's hands and continued to exchange sad looks with him and Mina, even once their parents started calling for them to jump into the water.

"I know you'll miss us, little ones, and we'll miss you, too," said Mina sympathetically.

"But we'll come and visit you whenever we get a chance," said Sonic, smiling gently, "We promise that we will."

Those words brightened the ducklings' spirits tremendously, and excited smiles formed on their beaks.

"Of course, we will!" giggled Mina, "We'll be happy to see you again and see how you're adapting to your new home!"

The five ducklings jumped with excitement, and they nuzzled their heads against Sonic's cheeks before doing the same to Mina.

They both chuckled as they felt the ducklings nuzzling them softly as if they were a second set of parents to them, then they finally jumped off and splashed into the water of the pond, right in front of their delighted parents.

"Well, Sonic, another mission accomplished!" commented Mina.

"Yep!" agreed Sonic through laughter, "For once, one that doesn't involve Egg Head!"

The two held hands and looked passionately at each other, but they were quickly interrupted by the duck family. All seven ducks quacked happily and waved them a friendly 'goodbye,' and the lovers waved back and watched as the ducks floated around the pond to enjoy their new home.

"Well," said Mina, setting her picnic basket down, "This is a day we won't forget."

"You can say that again, sweetheart," chuckled Sonic.

"I love you, sugar plum," said Mina passionately.

"I love you, too, sweetie," replied Sonic softly, and they slowly engaged in a soft yet passionate kiss that lasted for a few seconds before they sat back and enjoyed watching the many ducklings playing around the large pond.

"I think we have a new favorite place to hang out together..." Sonic concluded, as they two started to reset their picnic layout.

"And some new friends," added Mina, who got their remaining picnic hamper out of the basket.

"Yeah," chuckled Sonic.

For the next few minutes after resetting their picnic hamper back up by the edge of the lake, both Sonic and Mina then snuggled together lovingly as they watched the ducks.

* * *

Meanwhile...

Back in the small and quiet Unnamed Village, Knuckles the Echidna was walking around with his new soft toy weights on his ankles, which were so much more lighter and softer than the brick ones that he had, which caused that big hole in the floor of the dance event a few days ago. Knuckles and Perci had recovered quite quickly following the little accident at the dance event, and now that Tails had given the echidna some lighter weights, he was finally happy that he could no longer struggle with heavy weights clamped to his ankles.

As Knuckles walked around, feeling much more cheerful than when he went a bit crazy at the little tea party he had at Tails' Workshop, the echidna walked right past Amy, where he failed to notice her somewhat silent and jealous look on her face, as she was still thinking about what she saw with Sonic and Mina last night.

"Hello Amy!" Knuckles called, as he cheerfully walked past her, "Beautiful day today, isn't it?"

Amy didn't answer, because she was too busy thinking about seeing Sonic kissing Mina. The image just wouldn't get out of her mind, as she had been crushing on the blue leader secretly without any one of her team mates or anyone else in the town know about it. But now seeing Sonic in a new relationship with Mina Mongoose, it looked like Amy was going to be a bit down for a little while, though she would most likely remain jealous for quite some time as well.

While the pink hedgehog moped away, silently mumbling to herself, Knuckles walked into the small town, which had very few hut buildings built and the town hall made out of wood, sticks and leaves. Heck, even the hole that the echidna left behind when he did that letter run for Mayor Fink was still there, though it had by now been covered over with some dirt.

Nearby, as Knuckles walked into the middle of town square, was a post office. It didn't look like the modern post office that was seen in the preset time. Nope, this post office was much smaller and it didn't have very great detail to it. It was a simple desk and chair office, which stood beside the small market place, where sacks of letters, packages and parcels were seen sitting on each side of the table, while the letters were neatly piled up like small towers.

And what was very different to the modern time was that in this past time, Leroy the Turtle was not running the post office. Instead, it was a coyote mobian, who was wearing a mail hat and wearing a blue post office jacket, with a small 'Unnamed Village Postal Services' logo seem on the front of the jacket.

There was also a little name tag on the jacket, which said the following words:  
"Hello, my name is Dinsdale."

So, it was clear this character was known as Dinsdale the Coyote.

Seeing the coyote postman, Knuckles cheerfully walked up to the desk and went to see him. And because this was a little bit of a different time than it was in the present day on Bygone Island, Dinsdale was an enthusiastic and cheerful postman. And seeing his friend Knuckles or any other member of the small Team Sonic group always brought a smile

"Hello Knuckles!" Dinsdale called politely, "How very nice to see you!"

"Nice to see you too, Dinsdale!" Knuckles replied, grinning, "How's the postal services here?"

"They are going good here, thank you very much..." Dinadale responded, "I just gave the cashier lady at Meh Burger her new wrist watch that she had ordered a few weeks ago. She was my first customer of the day, and now you're my second customer here."

"Well, I just came by to say hello is all..." said Knuckles, smiling, "Anything I can do to help you out with today? I sometimes hear that you have quite a long way to take certain packages to far off places on this island."

Dinsdale looked at his friend for a moment and he began to think about something based on a package he had here.

For a while now, the coyote postman has had problems with taking packages and parcels to almost extremely long and far away places on Bygone Island.

And the situation was currently this: Either the person who ordered their package would have to come to the village to get their package, or they would have to wait for the postman to come around to their far off place to hand the package to them. So, it was a kind of difficult situation on long waiting schedules for someone to get their mail or packages from far off places.

But now, hearing that Knuckles was offering to help out with the mail run, it gave Dinsdale an idea that could help him out greatly. But first, he had to check with the echidna to see if he was able to do this idea.

"Say Knuckles?" Dinsdale asked, "Can you run fast? I know Sonic is fast at running, but he could be busy at the moment."

"Oh yeah, sure! I can run fast!" Knuckles replied, grinning, "I recently and accidentally swallowed a pill that Tails created that gives me extraordinary high speeding abilities, similar of that to Sonic's ability. I thought it was just a breath mint, so that's why I took it. And now, unless I have these soft toy weights on my ankles, or if I just stand still in one spot, then I am pretty much a jet engine who runs crazily at speed, because of some acceleration enhancement."

Hearing that long bit of dialogue from Knuckles, talking about his speed and acceleration enhancement, Dinadale smiled and clicked his fingers, as his new idea in his mind then came to him. Perhaps Knuckles could make some mail runs to help him out.

"Then, you're just the man I need!" Dinsdale stated, grinning, before turning to get something out of the sack of packages.

"I'm not a man, I'm an echidna..." Knuckles responded, before asking himself, "Am I?"

With no one around to answer his question, since there weren't many bystanders around the small village at this time, Dinsdale finally found the package he was looking for in his sack, and placed it on the table. It was a medium sized package, and it was wrapped with brown paper and it had a tag addressed to a Mobian who lived on another part of the island.

Whoever orders a package this size must be quite the buyer.

"Alright, Knuckles..." Dinsdale began, "I've got a little job for you, if you're up for the challenge."

"I'm listening..." Knuckles responded, nodding with a challenging smile.

"This package was meant to be delivered to a home somewhere on the other side of Bygone Island, and it's addressed to a 'Jacob Nematode'..." Dinsdale explained, "Now, I haven't been able to get this package delivered to him yet, because I have quite a long mail run to make across this small town and around a few other places, and takes me a long time to deliver these letters and packages. So, this package hasn't been delivered to him yet, as I can not afford a mail van to take the mail along with. My only resource is pulling a red wagon along with me to take the mail with, and it's a very tiring job."

"I bet it is, Dinsdale..." Knuckles agreed, nodding, "But you love your job, don't you?"

"Oh, of course! I do love my job here at the post office..." Dinsdale replied, nodding, "It's just that I get a bit tired from the walking around I do. Would you be willing to take this package to the destination that I haven't been able to make yet, please Knuckles?"

Seeing the small pleading look in his friend's eyes, Knuckles nodded in response, putting a determined yet kind-hearted smile on his face, seeing that he wanted to help out the coyote postman.

"Sure thing, Dinadale!" Knuckles said, smiling, "I'll get that package delivered for you as fast as Sonic can run off a cliff!"

"Great!" Dinsdale responded, happily, "I'll give you a bag to carry the package in. Just hold on there for a moment."

Within a few seconds, the coyote postman got a mail bag with a strap to carry it over one person's shoulders. He then placed the medium sized package into the sack and placed it on the table, writing down the destination of the house it needed to be delivered to on a piece of sticky note paper.

The address was for the residence of 'Jacob Nematode, 2319 Treetops Forest'. Postcode: A113.

"The residence of this person will be on the other far side of Bygone Island, Knuckles..." Dinsdale explained, as he gave the echidna the sticky note, "If you can get this delivery done, then I might possibly hire you as my Mail Express serviceman."

Knuckles, nodding in enthusiasm, grabbed the mail sack and placed the sleeves of it through his arms and carrying it on his back like a school bag. He then placed the sticky note on his chest, so he wouldn't loose it. He then looked at his friend and made a salute to him, like a solider saluting his captain in the army.

"I'll get this package delivered in no time at all, Dinsdale!" Knuckles exclaimed, before unclamping his soft toy weights off his ankles, "Would you mind keeping hold of my weights please?"

"Sure thing, bud..." Dinsdale replied, nodding, "I'll keep them under the table until you return."

Nodding, Knuckles picked up his lighter ankle weights and placed them on the table. He then turned to the jungle that had many trees and bushes within its wake, before he took a breather and got ready to run his first mail delivery.

Hoping up and down a bit, with his legs starting to get the speeding energy within them again, Knuckles, panting a bit, then started running like the fast rocket he was, blasting off from the post office desk and speeding off into the jungle, making a small sonic boom behind him, though he couldn't help but kick up some dirt and dust behind him as he took off.

"WHHOOAAAAA!" Knuckles yelled, as he ran into the jungle.

"Strike a light!" Dinadale exclaimed, watching the echidna speed away, "Now that's what I call fast!"

"Too fast I think..." mumbled a voice, which came from under the small mound of churned up dirt.

Dinsdale turned to the small mound of dirt, confused at first, thinking the dirt was talking to him, before it then moved around and a head popped out from beneath it, revealing it to be a weasel runt, who was almost covered in the dirt he got temporarily buried underneath. He brushed off his head from the dirt and dust lying on top of it.

The coyote postman saw the weasel's small predicament, and he tried not to snicker at the funny little sight that he was in.

* * *

Back at the Duck Pond...

Sonic and Mina were still hanging out with their new duck friends, enjoying their picnic while feeding the ducks some tiny bites of bread every now and then. The ducklings enjoyed the company and the lunch they got from the hedgehog and mongoose.

"This has been such a beautiful day, hasn't it, sugar plum?" Mina chuckled to Sonic.

"I can't recall the last time I enjoyed a peaceful time for this long," smiled Sonic, "We really should come here often."

The ducklings smiled at this and quacked excitedly.

"I think they would agree with you on that!" commented Mina.

Suddenly, they heard what sounded like something rushing towards them at a very high rate of speed. Sonic's eyes grew wide with horror. He knew what was about to happen...

"What was tha-" Mina was about to ask, before she was cut off.

"Move, Mina!" Sonic shouted.

The hedgehog sprang into action, grabbing Mina and rushing behind a tree. He was just in time ...

Knuckles came blasting right through the area just as the ducklings realized what was about to happen. Luckily, their parents pulled them back just in time.

The echidna crashed right into Mina's picnic basket and sent what little was left of the remaining food flying everywhere, but even that wouldn't stop Knuckles in his tracks with the acceleration pill still boosting his system. He kept right on going without having any idea what had just happened.

Once the coast was clear, everyone peeked out and saw the mess that had been created. Food was all over the place, and a bowl of bread crumbs had spilled into a corner of the duck pond. Several ducklings excitedly swam their way over to pick up any leftovers.

Sonic sighed in irritation, and said, "Will Knuckles' Acceleration Pill ever wear off?"

"Honestly, how long does it take for an acceleration pill to wear off?" asked Mina.

"I have no idea," answered Sonic, "After all, Tails had only finished development on it, before that echidna stumbled upon that one pill. We may have to keep watching our backs for as long as that pill continues to toss him up the wall."

Mina sighed with a small chuckle, as she then looked down at the small mess. It was just a good thing that they had their picnic before Knuckles came racing through the site.

"This will take a while to clean up..." Mina said, "But at least our new friends are happy with the bread."

The two then sat down together and stared down at what was now a pileup of jumbled up plates and mugs. Luckily, the food was already eaten, and the many ducklings were by now eating the bread bits. This mess would take a little while to clean up, but hopefully not too long, not as long as the plates were not smashed to pieces that is.

Anyways, while they got to start cleaning up their picnic date site, Knuckles continued to race through the jungle, carrying the package in the sack on his back. While his speed was pretty much uncontrollable at this time, it was certainly fast speed that could rival Sonic and Mina's super speed. And we would mention it could also rival Shadow's speed, but unfortunately for us, he isn't in this backstory show.

Knuckles raced through the jungle, panting a bit as he ran, before he came across what looked like a little cottage at the end of the jungle path. Seeing the little cottage in sight, the echidna then took the sticky note off his chest and looked at it, seeing the address that Dinsdale the Coyote had written for him.

And when he saw the numbers 2319 on the side of the door frame, Knuckles knew that he was in the right place, though he would need to slow down, before he caused a big catastrophe.

"I'm here!" Knuckles exclaimed, "But I gotta stop now! Come on stop, you stupid legs!"

To force his running legs to stop, Knuckles then made a jump and landed on the ground again, churning up the grass as he did, in an effort to stop his legs from running onwards. And thankfully, this was working, but he was still trying to slow down before a crash could be made. Yelling in effort, Knuckles dug his feet deeper into the ground, and then, with more grass and dirt churned up, Knuckles then finally came to a stop ...

... just before he hit the front door of the cottage.

"Phew!" Knuckles sighed, slowly standing up.

Smoke and dust flew around for a brief few seconds, before it disappeared, as the echidna tip toed up to the door and knocked on it. He got out the package from in the sack on his back, and held it in his hands, waiting for the person to answer the door. Seconds later, the person opened the door and there stood Jacob Nematode ...

... who in actuality, was an armadillo that looked very familiar to a black and red armadillo figure. I guess when your lady name gets something stupid, then you just gotta live with it, unless you can hopefully one day get it changed to something else better.

"Hello..." Jacob said, smiling, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to give you the package that's been held up at the Unnamed Village Post Office..." Knuckles explained, politely, before he noticed something and quickly read the note again, "Hey, you don't seem to look like a Nematode."

"Oh, that..." Jacob responded, chuckling awkwardly, "My parents gave me that last name when I was born. I'm actually known as Jacob the Armadillo."

"Ahh..." Knuckles said, nodding, before giving him the package, "Well, here is your package, sir. Dinsdale apologies for the long wait for this package to get delivered to you."

"Thank you..." Jacob replied, smiling, "And it's alright. Hopefully, this should be that new model train set that I ordered a week ago."

Knuckles nodded with a smile and said, "Well, enjoy your train set, sir. I've gotta get back to the Post Office."

Jacob nodded in return with a smile, failing to notice the churned up grass and dirt on the ground, as he waved goodbye and closed the door behind himself. With his delivery completed, Knuckles turned around and then took off at fast speed once again, going as fast as Sonic and Mina could run when they race together.

It certainly looks like that Knuckles will be getting that little Mail Express promotion from Dinsdale after all, since the Acceleration Pill was not going to be wearing off anytime soon for a while.

* * *

Later that day...

Sometime later in the day, Sonic and Mina were walking back into town, holding hands and carrying the slightly damaged picnic basket. They had recently said goodbye to their new duck friends, and they finished cleaning up the small mess that was caused by the Knuckles Rocket.

But despite that little incident, Sonic and Mina's first date together went absolutely perfect for the two new lovers. They enjoyed their picnic date and cuddling together, while making friends with the ducks. So, this was a very great way to start off their new relationship together, and it looked like they had a bright future together.

"I had an absolutely wonderful time today, Mina..." Sonic said, sighing happily, "Thank you for the picnic date at the duck pond. I'm sorry that Knuckles had to run over the sight earlier on though."

"Ah, don't worry about that, sugar plum..." Mina replied, giggling cutely, "Your friend can be a bit uncontrollable at times. But I was so glad that you and I could spend our first date together with the ducks. It looks like that we have some new friends for the future."

"We sure do..." Sonic agreed, "I love you, Mina."

"I love you too, Sonic..." Mina responded, smiling with her sparkly eyes.

When the two walked around the corner towards the mongoose's house, they saw that Tails was there waiting for them, with the keyboard by his side. It looked like that the six year old fox had decided to go down to Mina's house and deliver the keyboard back to her in person, and save both Mina and Sonic from going all the way to his workshop just to get it.

"Hey guys!" Tails called, "Enjoyed your date?"

"Hey, we sure did, little bud!" Sonic responded, chuckling, "We spent the day with some new friends, which were ducks and ducklings at a lake they live on."

"You would've loved it there, Tails..." Mina added, "So many little ducklings, they were just so cute!"

Tails giggled at seeing how happy Sonic and Mina looked together. He then picked up the keyboard and held it to Mina.

"Here you go, Mina..." Tails said, smiling, "I decided to give you back the keyboard in person. I've learned quite a bit on this thing while you were out on your date with Mr. Lovesick Sonic."

"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, blushing in embarrassment, "Tails!"

Mina only laughed a bit at Tails' cheeky comment, before taking the keyboard in her hands, while slinging the picnic basket on her shoulder like she did earlier on at the forest creek.

"Thank you, Tails..." Mina said, smiling, "I hope you learned a new tune on my keyboard while we was gone."

"I'm sure he has, Mina..." Sonic muttered, still blushing from Tails' cheeky comment.

"Well, I'd better get in and relax for the rest of the evening now, guys..." Mina said, before turning to her boyfriend, "Goodnight, sugar plum..."

"Goodnight, sweetheart..." Sonic replied, smiling.

The two lovebirds then shared their kiss goodnight, before Mine walked into her house, carrying her basket and keyboard, waving to the hedgehog and fox before closing the door behind herself.

As Tails walked with Sonic back to the workshop on the hill, the six year old fox couldn't help but look at his big brother, who had a happy and dreamy look on his face. It was clear that Sonic had enjoyed his first date and he had a wonderful time with his girlfriend, Mina Mongoose. It looked like Sonic was like this around Mina, he felt much more different and not like his usually cocky attitude that he usually uses around his friends and to the people of the town.

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails asked curiously, "How was your date?"

"Oh, it was absolutely wonderful, little bro..." Sonic replied, sighing happily and thinking about Mina, "She showed me a wonderful forest creek, where we then made some new friends with a family of ducks. Then, we took the ducks and their ducklings to a bigger lake, and that's when we spent our picnic with the ducks."

"Aww, sounds like you and Mina had a lovely first date together then, Sonic..." Tails commented.

"Heh, we sure did..." Sonic sighed, before he said, "At least, before Knuckles came racing through the area and trampled over what was left of our picnic. Luckily, he didn't hit us or any of the ducks."

"Was he running at full speed again, Sonic?" Tails asked, knowing that the Acceleration Pill had something to do with it.

"You guessed it, little bro..." Sonic answered in response, "But I was able to save Mina from getting hurt, and I'm very sure the duckling's parents got them away from Knuckles before he hurdled through our spot."

Tails gave a nod and a sigh, knowing that even after a few days since Knuckles took the Acceleration Pill, the echidna was not going to stop running like a fast Hitachi High Speed Bullet Train around the village. Until this pill wore off, then Knuckles would be continuing to race around for a while.

As the two brothers walked towards the end of the town, heading for the bottom of the workshop hill, Tails looked towards a nearby bystander, who gave him a dark glare, and this glare pretty much was an impolite one, too. Tails felt his nervousness come back and then grabbed onto Sonic and hid his face into his side, not wanting to be out in the public any longer.

Sonic felt Tails' nervousness, and so he gently escorted him away from the town, while giving the glaring bystander a nasty glare of his own.

* * *

Elsewhere, Knuckles was by now clamping his lighter weights back onto his feet, while stretching his back after a long day. He was also now wearing a blue jacket vest of his own, with a name tag saying 'Knuckles' on it, and a little symbol was seen on the best saying "Unnamed Village Postal Services'.

It was assumed that after completing the first mail delivery to Treetops Forest, Dinsdale was so impressed by Knuckles' quick and fast mail service, that he gave him the promised job of being his mail delivery assistant. Knuckles was all too happy to take the job offered to him, and now he had a neat little part time job of being a runner for the mail services on Bygone Island.

"You've done really well today, Knuckles..." Dinsdale said, as the coyote postman was closing up shop, "I haven't got a pay check to give you at the moment, but once I can get one for you, I'll give it to you by the end of this week."

"Hey, thanks!" Knuckles replied, happily, "I'm more than happy to wait, buddy! I quite actually enjoy being a runner for the mail services! Well, at least until the Acceleration Pill I took wears off, anyway."

"You'll have a long time until that happens, my friend..." Dinsdale said, chuckling as he placed a cloak over the mail table, "Well, I'm off for home now. You have a good night now and be careful not to run anyone over, okay?"

"Will do, sir..." Knuckles responded, saluting like a soldier, "I'll be very careful."

"Attaboy!" Dinsdale said, smiling before yawning, "Well, goodnight Knuckles."

"Goodnight, Dinsdale..." Knuckles answered back, before walking away into the town and off into the night.

So, it turns out this day went well after all. Sonic and Mina enjoyed their first date together, the ducks and their duckling children were swimming in a bigger and better lake with other ducks, and Knuckles helped Dinsdale get a package delivered with his speeding ability and got a promised part time job from him. Everything seemed to turn out alright in the end for everyone.

Well, except for Mayor Fink getting buried a bit in the dirt, Amy still feeling jealous of Sonic and Mina hanging together in their new relationship, and a nasty bystander giving Tails a mean stare. But there was a bit more worse to come much later on.

* * *

 ** _So, Knuckles has gotten a brand new job as a mail running service man, thanks to his super speed, and Dinsdale has appointed him as his mail assistant. At least the Acceleration Pill has its uses for him now. ^^ As for Sonic and Mina, they have enjoyed their first date and made some new friends with the ducklings and their parents at the beautiful duck lake in the jungle._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER NINE: Mina gets an opportunity to showcase her talents._**


	10. Chapter 9: Talent Revival

**_CHAPTER 9_**

 ** _Talent Revival_**

* * *

A few days had passed since Sonic and Mina's date at the duck lake, and Knuckles' new job at the Post Office. In those three days that had went by quickly, Sonic and Mina had been spending more time together in their relationship, and Tails had been helping Amy to practice some dancing in his workshop as Mina's teachings have helped him tremendously, and fair to say, Amy was really impressed by Tails' smooth moves and gentle waltz dancing.

Though Tails was oblivious to the fact that Amy was getting more jealous of Mina being with Sonic.

For Sonic, he has never been happier in his life than before, as his relationship with Mina was making him feel more happier and less cocky like he always was, and being with his new girlfriend kept him from worrying too much about Eggman attacking the village, since it was most likely that the doctor's mustache was still recovering.

And as for Knuckles, he was getting more use of his super speed from the Acceleration Pill than when he had the tea party meltdown the other day. Now that he was hired by Dinsdale as the Post Office 'Mail Express' running service, the echinda was now making regular runs around the whole island, delivering packages, letters and parcels to far off homes and huts where Dinsdale couldn't get to by foot.

Fair to say, Team Sonic were having a busy time, although within a year, everything would be changed forever.

For Mayor Fink though, he was still feeling a bit miserable with the events of the current looking town village. It was so small and it had very little buildings around it, with the stick, branch and leaf built 'Town Hall' slowly falling apart, piece by piece, since different weather conditions tampered with its stability and structure. Until he could get the necessary funding for the town, there was nothing he could do with the Town Hall or anything else in the village. All he could do was mope around and wait for an opening.

* * *

While the small village population was walking around and talking to one another, in Tails' Workshop, both Tails and Amy were just finishing off their dance together in the fox's home, as Tails had offered Amy to dance with him again, to see if they have can give it another try. Unlike the first time, when the two-tailed fox kept stumbling around, he was actually smoother and gentle with his dancing abilities that Mina had given to him, and Amy was very impressed with it, feeling that they had certainly improved this dance than the one they had at the event a few nights go.

"Wow, Tails!" Amy said, smiling in surprise, "That dance was so much better than the one from the other night at the dance event!"

"Heh, it sure was!" Tails agreed, grinning, "Mina really helped me out with how to dance like a pro, though you also helped me start to dance, even if we had a few problems together."

Amy smiled at Tails in response, while secretly hiding her jealousy of Mina away inside of her body. As much as she wanted to let it out, she couldn't do that in front of Tails, or even Sonic. but she would eventually crack sometime sooner or later.

"Well, I really enjoyed this dance, Tails..." Amy said, smiling at her friend, "Thanks for inviting me over to dance with you, again."

"You're welcome, Amy!" Tails said, as he watched the pink hedgehog head for the door, "See you later!"

Nodding in response, Amy waved to Tails, before she stepped over the once again temporarily fixed hole in the floor, opened the door and walked out of the workshop, closed the door behind herself, and headed off back into the Unnamed Village.

After the pink hedgehog left his home, Tails wondered on what to do next, since Sonic was hanging out with his girlfriend, Mina. He couldn't really ask Knuckles to hang out with him, due to his new job at the Post Office, and the fact that his crazy speed may cause more damage to his home.

Taking a sigh, Tails walked into his workshop part of his home, before he saw the Bubble Blaster that he and Mina had built together from the other day. The fox then remembered from a few days ago about how Mina helped make his childhood dream come true, by firing the Bubble Blaster at him, and then bouncing him around his home inside a bouncy, invulnerable bubble.

Walking to his new invention and picking it up, a bright grin took over Tails' face, as he giggled happily to himself, thinking about bouncing himself around his own home in a bubble of his own. Since his childhood dream come true, he may as well have some sort of advantage to it, just as long as he was extra careful in his house, since he knew how overprotective Sonic could be to him.

* * *

Over in the small town, the blue hedgehog was with his girlfriend Mina. The two of them were hanging out together in the mongoose's home, looking over some old music sheets and old lyric sheets that Mina had written and hidden away in her closet for a few years.

Earlier on the start of that day, Sonic asked Mina about her music sheets, in which she was reluctant to speak about them, though with some gentle convincing, Sonic managed to get Mina to let him see her old music sheets she wrote before hiding them away.

Right now, Mina was gently leaning her head against Sonic's shoulder, as her boyfriend was reading over a music sheet for an old song the mongoose wrote called 'Racing Hearts'. And fair to say, Sonic was almost mesmerized by the way the lyrics were written by his girlfriend.

"Wow..." Sonic said, reading over the music sheets, "These are pretty neat lyrics, Mina."

"Heh, t-thank you, sugar plum..." Mina replied, giggling a bit nervously, "They weren't really my best lyrics when I wrote them back then."

"Not your best?" Sonic asked, a bit stunned, "Mina, these are your best! I can't believe you would think of this song as not your best!"

"No, they ain't, Sonic..." Mina responded, sighing and moving off Sonic's shoulder, "I never even got to finish writing this song, because I then suffered a bit of a writer's block on it. And by the time those old village people rejected my talent, I then lost all inspiration for song writing and I left this song incomplete and abandoned."

Sonic sat back up on the bed and looked at Mina, bearing everything on what she just said about her song he had just read from the old song sheet. He couldn't believe that his girlfriend was being negative on a song that he believes was actually a great song and good to read.

Being negative was one thing to be on a bad day for a person with a foul tempered mood, but being negative on a song or interest was a different tale. Sonic couldn't bear the thought of Mina rejecting her own song, after people rejected her talent in the past. He needed to bring her positivity on song writing back, and he was going to find a way.

Turning to face Mina, Sonic gently put one hand around the mongoose's shoulder and place his other hand on the girl's cheek, before gently smoothing it gently with his hand. Mina felt this and gently blushed a bit at her boyfriend's touch on her cheek.

"Mina Mongoose..." Sonic began to say, talking gently, "My sweet girlfriend, please don't talk negative about your talent. You can't just let people in the past keep going through your mind, giving you many doubts and talking nonsense about you. I believe you have a wonderful gift of music and singing, and I would use that gift to bring some new culture to the town and to the newer townspeople, who might even like and accept your talent."

Mina took in what Sonic said to her, and while she really appreciated the fact her boyfriend was saying these lovely things about her music talent, song writing and singing voice, the mongoose girl still couldn't find the strength in her soul to accept what Sonic was saying and actually give her talent a second and new chance at life.

Leaning over and giving Sonic a kiss on the cheek, Mina gave a small smile to her sugar plum hedgehog.

"Sonic, that is very sweet of you to say to me..." Mina said, smiling before it disappeared with a sad sigh, "But, I already accepted it back then, that my talent was no interest to anyone. So, as much as I appreciate how you feel about my singing talent, sugar plum, ... it's just no use in trying to bring it back at all. I think my talent is going to be locked away forever."

Taking a sad sigh, Mina turned away from Sonic and looked down to the floor of her bedroom, feeling a bit down that her music talent would never be made any good at all. The thoughts of the older people rejecting her talent were again playing in her mind, as if they were like trying to haunt her mind.

Sonic, on the other hand, didn't want his girlfriend to leave her talent behind for the rest of her life, and so he began to think of something that could help out Mina and give her the motivation to start singing a song in the village, and to hopefully sing some songs for the newer, younger villagers to enjoy.

Tapping Mina on the shoulder, which made the mongoose girl turn to face him once more, Sonic took her hand in his, and squeezed it gently, showing his love and care for her, while giving her a loving smile.

"Mina..." Sonic began again, "I know you may not want to go back into music, but you've gotta put the past behind you. I'm determined to see this lovely song get finished. In fact, I'd be happy to help you out with it."

Mina looked at him with wide eyes and replied, "R-really?"

"Of course, sweetie," said Sonic, "The one thing you're really missing is some music to sing it to. If I wrote the music part while you wrote the lyrics, and you listened to the music, you could get a better idea of how you want your song to sound like. In fact, I might even get Tails to write a keyboard part for you. He showed his talent very quickly."

"Oh, Sonic, would you really go through all that trouble just to help me with this one song?" said Mina, "I wouldn't mind starting over with another one."

"These lyrics are the sweetest I've ever read, Mina, and I'm so determined to see them completed," replied Sonic, "Whaddaya say?"

"Well," said Mina, feeling uneasy, "I guess, ... if you really want to help me finish the song, ... then ... I'll do it ... just for you."

"Aw, Mina. You sweet mongoose," smiled Sonic, hugging his girlfriend.

Mina didn't hesitate to hug the hedgehog back, and they sat there in their embrace for a minute before Sonic stood up and activated his Wrist Communicator to call Tails.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in his workshop home on the hill, Tails was inside having some fun with playing around with some bubbles from his Bubble Blaster device that he and Mina had invented together just about a week ago. Ever since the mongoose girl had bounced him around the room in a bubble about a week ago, Tails had never been so much happier in his life, as one of his childhood dreams of being in a bubble were made true by the girl he had befriended.

Right now, Tails was happily inside of a bubble, bouncing himself around the room of his workshop, with the device he had used on himself seen inside of the bubble, attached to a small clip on his tool belt. The young six year old fox was having the time of his life, as he bounced happily around his home, feeling protected and safe inside the bubble of safety, while reliving his childhood dream in reality.

"Wheee!" Tails exclaimed, laughing happily, as he bounce around, "Hahahahaha! This is so much more fun than fighting Eggman's robots!"

But while most fun was unlimited, a certain blue hedgehog and a yellow mongoose were soon calling him.

Tails heard his Wrist Communicator beep, which caused him to slow down and stop bouncing around inside his bubble. Once he landed safely on the ground in the bubbly shield, Tails then popped the bubble with the special needle that was built into the device and answered his call.

"Hello?" Tails said.

"Hey, Tails, it's Sonic..." came Sonic's voice, "Mina and I were wondering if you'd like to come over to her home and help her out with something?"

"Sure, Sonic! I'm on my way!" Tails replied.

The six year old two tailed fox then put away his Bubble Blaster back into the workshop, and left his humble home on his way to Mina's house.

He made sure to take a more secluded route to her house, as he still wasn't comfortable with taking a route through the town where almost everybody despised him. Thankfully, he found a nice, quiet forest path which proved to be a good alternative route, and he soon found himself in front of Mina's house. He brushed himself off and knocked on the door.

Inside the house, Sonic was practicing on Mina's guitar, which she had let him borrow. The guitar was purple with some gold and silver streaks on it. Mina was certainly a fan of the color purple, all right. Sonic strummed on the guitar, before he then the heard the door knock. The hedgehog could only make one guess as to who it was.

"That must be Tails now," Sonic commented.

"Best not keep him waiting, sugar plum..." Mina said, teasing her boyfriend playfully.

Standing up off the bed, Sonic gave Mina her guitar back and answered the door. Sure enough, Tails was standing at the doorstep, and the two brothers smiled at each other.

It felt nice that Tails could really trust Sonic and Mina, seeing that not only that his big brother had a beautiful girlfriend that he was in love with, but it also felt nice that Mina felt like a big sister to Tails, just as Sonic felt like his big brother in the small family like manner.

"I'm here, as promised..." Tails said, smiling brightly.

"Come on in, little Tails!" called Mina.

Tails blushed at Mina's nickname for him, and he stepped inside before Sonic closed the door.

Just as he did close the door just in time, Knuckles the Echidna then went rocketing past at speed, carrying his new mail bag on his back, having just received his next mail delivery job from Dinsdale the Coyote at the small town Post Office. In his mail bag was another package that was addresses to another far away cottage on the island. And with Knuckles' super speed making the long journeys, delivery of the mail was much faster and easier for the whole island.

"Rocket Mail, coming through!" Knuckles exclaimed, as he raced past a nearby villager, who managed to jump away from the uncontrollable super speeding echidna, though they ended up getting their head stuck in a metal bucket.

Back inside Mina's house, Tails was amazed as he got his first look inside the mongoose's house. The rooms were beautifully decorated, and her item collection looked gorgeous. However, it couldn't compare to her bedroom, as when he stepped inside and found her, he saw a small collection of musical instruments placed in a corner, and the walls had flowers painted on them and featured some cool posters.

"Wow!" Tails gasped, "Mina, ... this place is b-beautiful!"

"Thanks, Tails," smiled Mina.

"So, what did you guys want my help with? Anything you got, I can fix it!" he chuckled.

Sonic and Mina laughed.

"It doesn't involve fixing anything, little buddy," giggled Sonic, "We were wondering if you could help us out with some music we were thinking of doing."

Tails gasped, "R-really?"

"Sonic and I looked through my old collection of music sheets and lyrics to songs that I stored away after my talent was rejected in the past..." Mina explained, "And there was this one unfinished song that Sonic loved so much that he's determined to see it finished. We were just thinking that, ... after we heard you on the keyboard the other day, perhaps you could do some keyboard parts for us. Would you be okay doing that?"

Tails took a few nervous breaths as he thought about the offer. Although he had quickly gotten skilled with the keyboard, he felt much like Mina in thinking that not that many people would like the music. Tails' inventions had all been rejected in much the same way that Mina's musical talent had been, so in a way it made them both misfits on the island.

However, the idea of two misfits teaming up to show some real talent seemed like quite a story that could be happy or sad, depending on the outcome. The fox knew that it would be worth a try, whether people loved it or hated it.

"I guess I could give it a shot," Tails finally answered after a long silence.

"Awesome! I knew we could count on you, Tails!" smiled Mina.

"You'll do great, lil' bro!" added Sonic, patting his brother on the back.

"I'm not the best when it comes to reading sheet music, because I have no musical experience, but I'll write a few melodies to see what sounds best," said Tails.

"Go ahead, little Tails," said Mina, "I'd like to hear what you can do to match my lyrics."

"Nothing personal or anything, but ... may I see the lyrics please?" asked Tails shyly.

"Here you go, little Tails," replied Mina, handing the fox the old lyric sheet.

Tails read over the lyrics several times and nearly cried. They seemed so sweet that it made him wonder why people would turn them down. The song that was about 'Racing Hearts' sounded just like a song that should be put on the radio and heard out for the whole town to listen to on a radio station.

And when Sonic read the lyrics earlier on, he immediately knew that the song needed to be completed and be sung by his girlfriend. If there was one thing that the blue hedgehog was determined to do, it was to help others and his friends out in dire times of need.

"Wow, Mina," he sniffled, trying to hold his tears in, "This is so ... sweet."

"You're quite a smart one, little Tails," commented Mina.

Tails blushed and looked sheepishly at his two friends, who both chuckled playfully at him.

"So, can you think of something soft?" asked Sonic.

"I'll see what I can do," answered Tails, brushing his cheeks to stop any tears that might have escaped his eyes, and he got out a piece of paper and a pencil, and started jolting down some possible chords and melodies for a keyboard part.

Sonic went back to practicing quietly on the guitar, while Tails experimented with a number of different keyboard melodies that would fit a romantic tone. Mina even did the honor of singing a few of the new and old lyrics off the sheet that were being written and made by her boyfriend and her close friend.

And when Sonic and Tails heard her singing voice, they thought of it as the most beautiful sound they had ever heard. Sonic was easily mesmerized in a daydream like state as he listened to his girlfriend sing for a bit, and Tails was fair to say very impressed at Mina, and the tone of her singing voice.

Sometime later, after working on the music sheets, playing different guitar points and keyboard sounds, along with practicing the singing parts, the song 'Racing Hearts' was finally finished and ready to be sung to the whole town, if Mina Mongoose was up to doing that of course.

"And done!" Sonic said, looking over the sheet one more time, "Racing Hearts is now officially written and finished!"

"All we have to do now, is have you sing this song to the newer people of this extremely quiet town, Mina..." Tails added, smiling, "Do you think you feel confident enough to sing to this song, Mina?"

Mina listened to Tails and began to think about what he just asked her. Sonic then handed his girlfriend the completed song sheet of 'Racing Hearts', where the mongoose girl then looked over the lyrics and the song itself that she, Sonic and Tails had written together.

If there was one thing that Mina was good at in her life, then it would have to be singing with her talented voice. And if she wanted to at least gain a few new friends in the village, even if some of the people might possibly be rude to her, then Mina would have to be brave and sing to those people.

Taking a stand and smiling at Sonic and Tails, the mongoose girl gave them both a nod in reply, signifying that she was now willing to sing to those younger townspeople.

"I'm feeling a bit confident now, you guys!" Mina replied, grinning, "Let's go and give those people a surprise they'll never forget!"

"Alright!" Sonic exclaimed, happy that his girlfriend was going to give this opportunity a chance, "Fantastic to hear that, Mina!"

And before Mina could say anything in response to Sonic's cheer, the blue hedgehog then rushed to her with his speedy gently grabbed her and spun her around, making Mina yelp in surprise a bit in the process, before Sonic dipped the mongoose girl and kissed her sweetly by surprise.

Mina almost squeaked in surprise from her boyfriend's surprise kiss, but she soon closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the blue hedgehog, kissing him back in response, while blushing lightly from the surprise kiss. Her purple and yellow hair dangled freely behind her head, and shining a little from whatever hair conditioner she uses to wash her hair with.

Tails just watched the two share their moment, and he tried not to giggle at Sonic's love and care for his girlfriend.

A moment later, Sonic ended the kiss between himself and Mina, and when he looked at his girlfriend again, he could see she was almost looking dazed and dreamily at him. Sonic would never usually have the courage to kiss a girl, but I guess Mina was the first one he ever kissed in his life, and most likely the mongoose girl was the only one for him to kiss, and no one else.

"Sonic ... You're so wonderful..." Mina said, giggling in a dreamy state.

"I love you a lot, that's why, sweetie..." Sonic replied, smiling lovingly at the mongoose girl, standing her up straight, "Now, let's get ourselves some practice ready for tonight!"

Nodding, both Mina and Tails then hugged Sonic together, before going to their places and began practicing their 'Racing Hearts' performance for tonight.

* * *

That evening, a small stage was set up at Meh Burger, and the three were making their final preparations for their small performance, with some help from the old waitress. A small crowd had gathered inside the restaurant to see what was going on, and once they saw a keyboard and a microphone stand on the stage, they were intrigued.

About an hour before the event started, Sonic, Tails and Mina went over to see the old lady walrus cashier at Meh Burger, who was just about to close up shop for the day. They asked permission from her, if she could allow them to perform their song at Meh Burger, as Sonic and Tails had explained that they were helping Mina Mongoose to sing for the town people.

Although most people would refuse to let stuff like this happen, it was a good thing that the old lady walrus cashier was a close friend of Sonic's, because she was very curious to hear what song Mina had for the town, and so, she agreed to let them set up a small show in Meh Burger. Once the small deal was made, the four of them then set up a small stage and arranged the tables, with the old lady walrus waitress even offering to make food for the small event, even if it was after closing hours.

Eventually, the old lady walrus cashier took to the stage and stood in front of the microphone. She cleared her throat to get the audience's attention, and everyone fell silent at once. The people attending the small event had their Meh Burger meals and drinks on their tables, as they waited for the show to start.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," she announced, "To those of you who don't know, Meh Burger has decided to present you with a musical guest tonight, which is why we are open after closing hours, tonight. She has aspirations of becoming a professional singer, but hasn't found her big break yet. Still, she hopes you will all enjoy this piece she has written for all of us to listen to, with the help from her boyfriend and her best friend. So, would you please give a big and warm welcome to our special musical guest for tonight: Ms. Mina Mongoose, who will be singing a new song titled, 'Racing Hearts,' assisted by her guitarist, Sonic the Hedgehog, and her keyboardist, Miles 'Tails' Prower!"

At that moment, the trio stepped onto the stage nervously, seeing that the after closing hours event had brought in quite a crowd, even if it was small. Tails took his place behind the keyboard, Mina stood in front of the microphone once the waitress stepped aside, and Sonic stood next to her with the guitar.

Nobody said a word as they kept their eyes on the three. Everyone was eager to hear what their music would sound like. Most of the crowd looked very eager, some of them looked bored, and one or two looked like they didn't care.

Once Sonic and Tails started off on the guitar and keyboard, respectively, everyone listened with interest, then came that sweet voice that no one expected to hear. Mina Mongoose, who had never sung to the town before in the past, since her rejection by the older people in the past, began to sing with her sweet and beautiful voice.

As Mina began singing her completed song, with Sonic and Tails providing music backing for her as she sang into the microphone, her angelic like voice echoed all around the village, making it sound like she was a really famous celebrity that just came from overseas.

The keyboard Tails played on made sweet and perfect romantic like pitches, matching the taste of the song, while Sonic played on Mina's borrowed guitar, making excellent strums and tones. Mina's voice echoed around the town, her singing sounding like she was playing at her very first live concert.

The small crowd of villagers who were gathered around at Meh Burger for this little performance were surprisingly positive and surprised by how beautiful Mina's voice sounded, when she was singing her 'Racing Hearts' song. It was like the Unnamed Village had been risen up from its quiet and silent days, and a new leash on life, with a person of music talent, was being created.

While Sonic played the guitar, his mind was only thinking about his girlfriend's love for him. The two had such a great relationship that it felt like they were a real celebrity pair, even if not many people knew about their relationship. As Mina continued signing with her voice, she walked over to Sonic, and sung into his ear, in a slow loving way, while gently smoothing her hand across his cheek lovingly, which made him blush brightly.

But unknown to the two lovebirds or anyone else watching this performance, Amy Rose was once again spying on the blue hedgehog and on the mongoose girl, a glare in her eyes. She was really not taking Sonic's relationship with Mina very well, in fact, she was almost seething with anger, as her secret crush played alongside the girl he loved with all of his heart.

Amy gave one more glare to the couple, before she turned around and disappeared into the shadows of darkness, heading for her home to sulk. One day, she hoped Sonic would end his relationship with Mina, although this didn't seem very likely to her.

A minute later, the song was coming to a close finish, and what Mina did next, was that she made a great pose while singing a high note beautifully, which echoed all around the whole town, which really started making the villagers cheer and applaud the trio, while Tails made a final cord on the keyboard and Sonic made one final rift on the guitar.

The small crowd almost went wild, cheering for the hedgehog, mongoose and two-tailed fox. Looks like their performance has become the highlight of the day in the Unnnamed Village.

"That was amazing, you guys!" The old lady walrus cashier lady cheered, applauding for the trio, "You've really rocked out the restaurant!"

"Oh well, Mina's the real star!" Sonic said, gesturing to his girlfriend, which made Mina blush, "She's taken the whole small community by storm with her beautiful singing voice and her special talent!"

"Oh, you guys!" beamed Mina, blushing deeply.

Unknown to anybody, among the crowd was a male walrus whom had been watching the performance intently for a very particular reason: He had recently become an agent for a record company, and after hearing Mina's performance, only one thing was on his mind. His label was looking for up-and-coming sensations, and Mina seemed to be just the person that fit their requirements.

Mina turned to Tails, who stood up from the keyboard and bowed to the small audience. The mongoose girl was certainly lucky and grateful to have a friend like Tails, as well as a boyfriend like Sonic to help get her music talent back to life, and it received a positive response to the younger village people, much more better than the old ones from the past.

"You did fantastic work on that keyboard, Tails!" Mina exclaimed happily, cuddling the fox, "Thank you so much for the help on creating those tones!"

"Heh, you're very welcome, Mina!" Tails replied, blushing a bit on his cheeks.

Mina giggled in response at the fox's adorable look, before giving him a sweet kiss on his cheek, as a thanks of appreciation, though she did leave a pink kiss mark right on Tails' furred cheek. Tails blushed even more from this gesture, and he giggled while clasping his hands behind his back.

Sonic saw his girlfriend kissing his little bro's cheek, and he just chuckled to himself heartily, finding Mina being playful to Tails to be sweet of her to do. But as he watched Tails then get surrounded by a few villagers, asking for his autograph even if he had no paper, Sonic was soon grabbed by the hands by Mina, and brought very close to her.

"Whoa! Mina!" Sonic exclaimed, surprised, coming face to face with a romantic looking Mina Mongoose.

"And thank you for convincing me to sing to this town, sugar plum..." Mina said, lovingly and seductively, "You've just earned yourself a special kiss of gratitude from me to you."

Before Sonic could ask what his girlfriend was talking about, Mina then brought him in close to her and kissed him very passionately on the lips, which almost made the blue hedgehog's fur stand up on end, as he was so surprised by Mina's kiss that he practically almost fainted.

But while Mina was kissing her boyfriend, the male walrus who watched the small concert in the crowd came up behind her, and tapped her on the back of her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Mina Mongoose?" The walrus asked, wearing his sunglasses over his eyes.

Mina felt the walrus tap her shoulder, which made her stop kissing her already love struck Sonic, who fainted onto the floor as she let go of him, and turned to face the male walrus, who was standing cool and collective, while keeping a calm figure, standing in place in front of the crowd of Mobians.

"Yes, sir?" Mina asked, politely, "What can I do for you?"

"More like what I can do for you, miss..." The walrus replied, "My name is Benjamin Walrus, and I am a music agent and entrepreneur, whose looking for a person with great talent to be taken to the next level with their talent. I've been to many towns and islands searching for people with unique talents of their own, but I have been unable to find anyone for quite some time."

Mina listened very carefully to what Benjamin Walrus was talking about, just as Tails finally came over to see Mina, after finally managing to get himself out of the crowd of his new fans begging for his autograph.

Tails saw Sonic lying on the ground, looking like if he was passed out from Mina's kiss, before going over to help him up and keep him steady on his feet, as Mina listened to Benjamin Walrus talking about his ordeal.

"You singing performance tonight has taken my interest in your special talent, Mina..." Benjamin said, continuing on with his sentence, "What I would like to know is, would you ever consider starting a music career in your life, with my music company backing you with money for every piece of music you produce for your future songs?"

Mina didn't know what to say, except for silently gasping in surprise. She was so surprised by this offer that she wondered if she should go through with it. It all seemed a little forward to her, like it was all happening so quickly. She looked over at Sonic and Tails.

The fox was smiling at her and nodding to her to tell her to accept the offer. Sonic was barely conscious, lying limp in his little brother's arms, since that passionate kiss from his girlfriend almost knocked him out. Mina would have guessed that Sonic would probably be telling her to say 'yes' just as Tails was doing now.

Convinced that she had her answer, Mina turned back to Benjamin and answered, "I think I'd like to give it a go."

"Great!" beamed Benjamin, "I'll call the record label, and we'll have someone come over to your residence tomorrow afternoon, so you can sign the contract."

"Okay," nodded Mina thoughtfully.

"It'll be great having your musical talent on board with us!" added Benjamin, "Particularly your voice. I must say that you have a special gift inside of you, Mina. You should use it wisely and use it really well."

Mina blushed a little upon hearing that last bit.

"I'll see you soon," said Benjamin with a smile, and he turned and left.

"That sounds great, Mina!" beamed Tails, "You'll finally have your big break coming up real soon! The world can finally listen to your sweet voice!"

Mina blushed even deeper and smiled at Tails just as Sonic groaned and slowly sat up, finally coming back around from his brief fainting.

"Did you hear any of that, Sonic?" asked Tails.

"What is it, lil' bro?" said Sonic weakly.

"Mina's getting her big break! An entrepreneur and producer of a record label named Benjamin wants to sign her up!" said Tails happily.

"What!?" shouted Sonic in surprise, feeling very surprised indeed, before standing up on his feet once more, "No way! Mina, that is awesome!"

"Hehe, yeah!" chuckled Mina sheepishly.

"Just like I told you, Mina: If you never give up, then great things will happen ... eventually," added Sonic.

Mina smiled at the two brothers, and Sonic finally got himself back onto his feet and hugged his girlfriend.

"I love you, Sonic," whispered Mina.

"I love you, too, Mina," Sonic whispered back.

The two soon broke off their hug, and Sonic leaned over and pulled Tails in before giving him a playful noogie on his forehead.

"Ack! Sonic!" giggled Tails, "Stahahahop! Lemme go!"

"We have you to thank, too, Tails!" said Sonic, "Your keyboard playing really played a vital role in this!"

"And personally, I think your keyboard playing is just as beautiful as my voice!" added Mina, giving the young fox a bit of a flirty wink.

"Aww, shucks!" blushed Tails in embarrassment.

"It's true, little bro!" smiled Sonic.

"How about a group hug?" offered Mina, "All three of us make a great team when we put our minds to it."

"Hehe! Sure!" giggled Tails, and the trio engaged in a three-way group hug that lasted for about ten seconds before they broke off and smiled at each other.

"Well, I think I'm going to head home and get ready for bed," said Tails before yawning, indicating how tired he was after everything that happened tonight.

"Okay, lil' bro," grinned Sonic.

"Thanks again, Tails!" said Mina, who quickly kissed him on the cheek again.

"You're welcome, Mina," replied Tails, blushing from the kiss, "Goodnight, Mina. Goodnight, Sonic."

"Goodnight, Tails," Sonic and Mina responded as Tails turned and started his long walk back home.

As soon as Tails was out of sight, a small group of fans surrounded Sonic and Mina, apparently wanting an autograph.

"Um, neither of us have a pen," said Sonic.

"Here!" called the Meh Burger waitress, "Come over here and use mine!"

Sonic and Mina rushed inside the restaurant and sat down at one of the empty tables near the cash register.

"Thanks!" said Sonic gratefully.

"Anytime," smiled the cashier as she handed two pens to the hedgehog and mongoose.

The fans gathered in front of the table, and Sonic and Mina were soon at it with the autograph signing. Mina could not have imagined that this one song would make her so popular overnight, but thanks to the help of Sonic and Tails, her music career could finally get a head start, once she would sign the contract tomorrow afternoon.

It seemed that for Mina Mongoose, life was finally starting to get better, but there would still be more obstacles to overcome before her career finally made the spotlight.

* * *

 ** _So, it looks like that Mina Mongoose has finally gotten her special music talent back to life, thanks to the help of Sonic and Tails._**

 ** _We had a bit of trouble writing this chapter, because we sometimes got distracted from our goal or we were very busy with other things. Other than that, we enjoyed writing this chapter. ^^_**

 ** _We didn't add any song lyrics, because we didn't want any problems with copyright and all that stuff, even if the lyrics to 'Racing Hearts' are not real, for as far as we know anyways. But that doesn't bother us, since we are enjoying this story more than just songs._**

 ** _The name of the old lady walrus cashier will also be revealed in Chapter Ten._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER TEN: Tails' seventh birthday is coming up, but Sonic has drawn all his attention to Mina rather than his little brother..._**


	11. Chapter 10: New Popularity

**_CHAPTER 10_**

 ** _New Popularity  
_**

* * *

Sonic had just finished explaining about the little show that he, Tails and Mina performed together at Meh Burger, which not only gave them a new popularity from the villagers, but it also gave Mina her big break with the record label company contract that was offered to her. Thinking about that put a smile on the blue hedgehog's face, and it definitely made his small group of friends in the basement smile brightly too.

"So, Mina actually got a contract with a record company, because of that little show that you guys put up for her?" Amy asked, feeling curious, even though she was there at that time, though she didn't actually see Mina get offered a contract.

"That's right!" Sonic said, grinning, "Thanks to our little 'Racing Hearts' show at Meh Burger, Mina finally got her big break and began her revived song writing and singing career, once she signed the contract given to her the next day!"

"And Mina couldn't have been anymore happier than she had even been, as well!" Tails added, smiling fondly at the memory, "Besides, Mina managed to briefly cause Sonic to faint, when she kissed him."

Sonic blushed brightly at that cheeky little comment from Tails, since he remembers that kiss particularly well. In fact, he could just partially still feel the taste of Mina's kiss from those five years back, despite moving on from that memory a while back. It still embarrassed him a bit that he fainted after his past girlfriend kissed him by surprise.

And out of all the characters in this basement who found this to be pretty funny, Sticks was the only exception to not take lightly to the subject of kisses.

"Eurgh!" Sticks groaned, nearly gagging, "Why does everything have to be so mushy and cute for!? It's too much for me!"

"Maybe romance isn't your type of thing, Sticks..." Knuckles simply answered for her.

"That's because it isn't, you lugnut!" Sticks replied back, trying to prevent herself from gagging any further.

Zooey was sitting by Tails' side, having been listening to most of the story so far, before a sudden memory then clicked into mind. She had a brief memory that was based on four people: Herself, Perci, Sonic and Tails. She was beginning to remember a time on when she actually met Sonic and Tails, when she first came to this island back in those five years ago.

How a sudden memory like this could come back to her mi d was not certain, but I guess that when you're a person in real life, certain things from the memory of your past can trigger you at times. And besides that, there was never really an explanation on how Zooey actually met our two famous heroes or how she even came to this island in the first season.

Tails took notice of Zooey's deep thinking expression, and he gently tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey Zooey?" Tails asked, tapping her gently, "What are you thinking about?"

"Hmm?" Zooey replied, looking to her boyfriend k before smiling and saying, "Oh, I was just remembering something."

"What's it about, Zooey?" Sonic asked, having heard what the vixen just said.

"I was thinking about... when I first came to Bygone Island, and Perci introduced me to both Sonic and Tails..." Zooey said, thinking about what she was remembering.

The whole group were soon sitting up in stunned silence, especially Sonic and Tails, since they had most likely had forgottened about the time Perci introduced them to Zooey, when she was a new villager to the Unnamed Village. Well, there was a lot to this backstory to uncover than just the main story, of course. Every main story has some smaller stories to go with it.

Of course, this little discovery caused Tails to blush, as he may have forgotten about that time he first met Zooey and began crushing on her.

"R-Really?" Tails asked, stuttering and blushing a little.

"Hehe, of course, Tailsy!" Zooey giggled, ruffling his head with her hand, "I remembered that you and Sonic had recently become popular following a little concert show that happened at Meh Burger. I didn't see or know about Mina Mongoose, because I only arrived the day after the event happened. Perci only said to me that you and Sonic were performing with a mongoose girl that she remembered seeing at the dance event night."

Tails only nodded in response, as he was a bit stunned to give a word of reply to Zooey. Because he was only six years old at the time, some certain memories could be easily forgotten or even never heard of for a long time. It should also be noted that previous modern day events that have happened to Tails have also clouded out this one particular memory that Zooey still remembers.

Then, Sonic suddenly remembered something from the events that Zooey had just mentioned about. And it was when at a time where five years ago, he and Tails had started to become popular from the music show.

"Oh yeah!" Sonic exclaimed, clicking his fingers, "I remember now! We had just gotten a few new fans from that little show we put on, and that's when Perci showed us to you, Zooey!"

"You guys got to meet Zooey, before we met her?" Amy asked, curiously, gesturing to herself and Knuckles.

"Who's Zooey?" Knuckles asked aloud, earning an irritable sigh from almost everyone in the room.

"We sure did..." Sonic replied, smiling and ignoring Knuckles' memory loss, "In fact, I think I remember what exactly happened. And I'm sure Tails would remember a bit of what happened to..."

* * *

The next morning, following the Meh Burger music show from last night, Sonic and Tails were strolling through the village, holding hands as they walked side by side like loving brothers would. After everything they had been through lately, Sonic decided that he and Tails should spend some brotherly time by themselves for a while, and Tails was eager to cash in on that opportunity.

Of course, their performance with Mina last night was still fresh on their minds, especially the newfound popularity they all gained from it. Now that Mina was on the brink of starting her music career, it seemed that life was finally starting to get better for the two brothers.

"That sure was quite a show we put on last night, lil' bro," Sonic said before he sighed in deep thought, "Mina really has such a sweet voice."

"I'm happy for her," smiled Tails, "Now that she's been picked up by the record company, I wonder when she'll release her first album?"

"Oh, that'll take time and patience, little bro," chuckled Sonic, "Just wait and see, and her music will be in the stores before you know it!"

"Hehe! Yeah!" giggled Tails.

Deciding to be a little playful with Tails, Sonic pulled him in closer and playfully nudged his forehead.

"Hey! Ack! Sonic! Naaahahahahaho! Lemme go! Aaahahahahahahahahehehe!" laughed Tails.

"Just playin' with ya, Tails!" said Sonic.

Then, as it seemed everything seemed peaceful and quiet in town today, something different and rather loud happened, suddenly ...

"LOOK! OVER THERE!"

"Hey! There they are!"

"It's them! The two musicians we saw at Meh Burger last night!"

Sonic and Tails looked ahead and saw a small crowd of new fans running up to them like a flock of seagulls. The fox instinctively leaned closer to Sonic and shuddered nervously. He still hadn't quite been used to being out in public, even now the townspeople were finally beginning to think kindly of him and his brother.

"S-Sonic?" stuttered Tails.

"It's okay, lil' bro. They're not gonna hurt you," whispered Sonic, "Besides, ... I think they want our autograph."

"Hey! Can we have your autograph, please!?" called one of the fans, confirming Sonic's assumption.

Tails settled down a little, but no sooner did that happen when the two brothers were completely surrounded by autograph-seeking fans. They swarmed around the duo like a pack of vultures, although thankfully they were not going to hurt them, but most likely just beg them for their autographs.

"Um, we don't have a pen at the moment," said Sonic, making Tails gulp nervously.

"Hey, Sonic!" called a familiar female voice.

"I know that voice," Sonic whispered to himself.

The hedgehog looked around and saw the familiar sight of Perci the Bandicoot within the crowd, wearing a polite smile and looking much better than when she had that incident at the dance night event over a week ago.

"Hey, Perci!" called Sonic.

"Hi, Sonic!" Perci replied, "I heard about your little show at Meh Burger last night!"

"It was quite nerve-racking, I can tell ya that," chuckled Sonic, "Although we don't exactly have any pens at the moment. These people have come for our autographs, and we are pen-less."

Perci, seeing that the crowd was still begging Sonic and Tails for an autograph, despite having no pens, then reached into her pocket and dug out what looked like two borrowed library pens.

"Oh, don't worry about that you guys..." smiled Perci, holding two pens in her hand, "You can borrow my pens. I'll be giving them back to the library very soon anyways."

Sonic and Tails gratefully took the pens, and this instantly triggered the reaction from the fans. They were now holding their items in front of them, almost right up to their faces.

"Okay, okay! One at a time! One at a time!" panted Sonic, "Jeez!"

"I, uh, guess this is what we get for being overnight sensations," chuckled Tails sheepishly.

"You can say that again," replied Sonic.

"Oh, and there's someone new I'd like you for you two to meet today, as well," added Perci, smiling.

"Really?" said Tails as Sonic signed his autograph on someone's cap.

"Yeah," said Perci, "She's just moved into the neighborhood, and I'm showing her around the town. I've told her a story or two about you, and she's been thinking of meeting you, although she's a little shy."

"Hmm ... Sounds kinda like Tails," commented Sonic.

Tails simply shrugged his shoulders and signed a few autographs before Perci turned back and motioned for somebody to join them. Though whoever was being gestured to come out by Perci, must've had a nervous feeling on them, like how Tails was nervous around the public sometimes.

"Come on out, don't be shy..." Perci said, kindly, continuing to gesture to the person she was looking at.

Then, a yellow female vixen made her way through the crowd and nervously stood next to Perci, with a red handbag over her shoulder. In an instant, when he saw this new girl and villager, Tails' eyes went wide with wonder.

The vixen had blue eyes that almost looked exactly like his own, and she had nice, long hair and neat-looking ears on top of her head. He thought she looked so gorgeous.

"Sonic, Tails, I'd like you guys to meet our new villager, Zooey," said Perci, gesturing to the vixen.

"H-Hello..." Zooey said, stuttering a bit and trying to make eye contact.

"Hi there, Zooey," greeted Sonic.

Tails, however, had fallen into a dreamy trance just by staring at the beauty of this young girl who was likely about the same age as him. He felt so mystified by this beautiful young vixen, although he didn't know why he was like this.

"Tails?" said Sonic, trying to get his little brother's attention, and he waved his hand in front of the fox's face, "Tails?"

But no matter how Sonic tried to wave his hand in front of his little brother's face, Tails just wouldn't come out of his dreamy trance. Well, that was, until Perci clicked her fingers right in Tails' face, and that snapped him out of his trance.

"Huh? What?" Tails gasped suddenly, and he shook his head and recomposed himself, while trying to figure what happened to him.

"Would you like to give Zooey an autograph, lil' bro?" asked Sonic.

"Oh, um, sure," chuckled Tails nervously, and he took a small piece of paper from Zooey's handbag and signed it with his autograph before handing it back to her, "Here you go, Zooey."

"Wow," said Zooey, appearing to be very impressed with Tails' autograph, "Thank you, Tails."

"You're welcome," smiled Tails, and he and Sonic quickly took care of the rest of the fans by signing their autographs on whatever pieces they had left.

Thankfully, the crowd left once they all had their autographs, and the four were left alone for the moment.

"Well, it was nice seeing you guys again, but I gotta go show Zooey around town," said Perci, "I wish you best with you and that mongoose girl, Sonic!"

"Thanks, Perci..." Sonic rescinded, smirking, "We'll be seeing ya later!"

"I'll, uh, see you guys around," said Zooey nervously.

"I hope you really like it here, Zooey," smiled Tails.

"I'm starting to like it here already," said Zooey, giving a small nervous smile to Tails, "And ... thank you, c-cutie."

Tails blushed, and his smile grew bigger. Very few people ever thought him to be cute, but to be called that by a young girl whom he knew for only a few minutes was enough to make him feel so dreamy. There was something about Zooey that the two-tailed fox could sense had a very soft spot for him on the inside.

And the 'cutie' comment from Zooey was enough to make Tails fall back into his dreamy trance once again.

"See you guys later!" called Perci, as she and Zooey left them.

"See you later!" Sonic called back, just before they disappeared.

Tails watched with a lovestruck look on his face as Zooey walked away, and even after the two girls were no longer within his sight range, he was still staring off into space, looking at nobody in particular.

"Tails?" said Sonic, noticing that his little brother was back in his trance.

"Oh, Zooey..." Tails said to himself, in a dreamy tone of voice.

The hedgehog waved his hand in front of him again, but when that didn't work, he gently held him by the shoulders and shook him a little.

"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed, loudly.

"Whaa!" Tails jolted as he snapped out of his trance, "Huh!? What is it!? Wha-"

He quickly realized that he had fallen into that trance again, and he suddenly felt very foolish.

"Are you feeling alright, Tails? You look zoned out," said Sonic with concern for his brother.

"I ... I don't know, Sonic," answered Tails sheepishly, "There's ... something about ..., ... well, ... I don't know."

He didn't want to mention Zooey, but Sonic seemed to be able to read him like a book without getting a clear answer.

"I think I'm getting a few ideas as to what it is," he commented, "Why don't we take a stroll to the beach, and the two of us can just relax?"

"Sure, Sonic," nodded Tails with a small smile, "I'd like that."

Sonic playfully lifted Tails by the armpits and placed him on his back, and he took off towards the beach with the fox holding on for dear life.

It looked like that ever since Tails had met Zooey and given her an autograph, and being called 'cutie' by Zooey, the two-tailed fox would soon find himself getting a crush on the Vixen.

* * *

Back in the present, Sonic could see that Tails was blushing from the memory that was brought back up from those five years ago when Perci introduced them to Zooey, but Tails in the present time was now looking much more dreamy than he did back then.

In fact, right now, Tails was dreamily starting at his girlfriend, Zooey, with his eyes sparkling with happiness, his cheeks blushing pink a bit, and his heart swelling with so much love and care for the girl he loved so much, and the same girl he met five years ago.

"Uh oh, Tails has gone into that mushy stare again!" Sticks exclaimed, getting into her paranoia mode.

"Relax Sticks..." Zooey said, chucking, "My sweet Tailsy is just looking at me in that cute trance he had on me years ago. And I know just the thing to help get him out of it."

Gently placing her hands on Tails' shoulders, Zooey leaned into her boyfriend and kissed him sweetly on the lips. Tails instantly kissed her back and closed his eyes, while blushing really brightly, feeling his girlfriend's love for him.

But while Amy, Sonic and Knuckles almost seemed to awe at the romantic sight, let's just say that Sticks was definitely not one for cute romantic moments. In fact, she was looking away from the two foxes in disgust.

"Eww!" Sticks groaned, almost feeling sick, "Icky kisses! Make it stop!"

"Hey, kinda reminds me of the many kisses that Mina and I shared together on our dates..." Sonic said, folding his arms over his chest.

Amy heard Sonic say this, and she nodded in silence, while thinking about the moment of seeing Sonic kissing Mina outside the mongoose's home five years ago. Looks like this image was still in Amy's memory after five years.

Tails and Zooey soon ended their romantic kiss and stared lovingly at each other, with Zooey staring deeply into Tails' blue eyes, while the two-tailed fox stared at the vixen with his dreamy trance look in his eyes. Little red hearts bubbled and popped around Tails' head, as he gazed into Zooey's sparkly eyes.

"I love you so much, Zooey..." Tails sighed, before cuddling into the vixen's chest.

"And I love you so much too, my special Tailsy..." Zooey replied, in a romantic tone of voice, kissing the fox on his forehead, "You were as sweet as when we had that little dance on your seventh birthday party."

As Tails giggled happily into Zooey's side as the young lovers snuggled one another lovingly, Sonic somehow managed to hear the vixen's mention of his little brother's seventh birthday party. It triggered a certain memory in his mind, as he thought about that one day where he almost completely let Tails down on one of his birthdays.

Amy sensed Sonic tensing up and became concerned.

"Sonic?" Amy asked, "Are you ok? You seem tensed up."

"Oh ... yeah, I am..." Sonic responded, trying to shrug off his tensed state, "Sorry, I was just remembering about the time ... I almost forgotten about Tails' seventh birthday."

Hearing this, Amy, Sticks, Knuckles, Tails and Zooey all turned to face Sonic, although Tails could then suddenly remember about a time where his seventh birthday was almost completely forgotten about by his own big brother.

"I...I remember that ... S-Sonic..." Tails stuttered, feeling a sad feeling inside his chest, as he remembers the incident.

"Sonic forgot about your birthday?" Sticks asked, quickly in surprise, "Jeez, that's not like him to forget about someone's special day."

"Was I there?" Knuckles asked, to which no one answered to his question.

"Yeah, Sticks..." Sonic said, sighing, "I almost completely forgot about his seventh birthday. What happened was that I was spending so much time with Mina, helping her write her three new songs, that I forgot that Tails' birthday was coming up. It really upset him, and it made me feel really guilty. However, thankfully, we all chipped in and came up with an emergency plan, and this was before the old lady walrus cashier at Meh Burger went into retirement..."

* * *

Mina Mongoose had just recently and officially signed the contract of a music career given to her by Benjamin, and now both she and her boyfriend Sonic were busy writing songs together and creating new and catchy tunes, with Tails helping them out occasionally.

Now that Mina had her big break at starting an official music career, along with gaining brand new fans and friends, Mina's life was taking a much better and brighter future ahead of her. And with the music co,pony she was now working with paying her money for the songs she creates, Mina would soon find herself in fame and fortune, but she would also still care for her boyfriend, Sonic, and her close friend, Tails.

As the few weeks went by, Mina and Sonic created new songs, and the mongoose girl would sing them with her beautiful voice, with some of her newer songs managing to get onto a radio show. However, while Tails was eager to help with the two lovers and the new music and songs being created, he had tried to remind Sonic about his upcoming birthday, but his brother would always forget to acknowledge him, much to Tails' disappointment.

But one day, trouble would eventually come for Sonic.

It was the day before the fox's birthday, and right now, Sonic and Mina were trying to figure out a new song to write together, briefly forgetting that Tails was in the room with them, feeling really fed up and a bit upset.

"Hmm, this sounds a little..." said Mina as she and Sonic tried a few notes they had written themselves, although not quite feeling satisfied.

"Maybe we should ask Tails for help on this one," suggested Sonic.

"Um, maybe I could think of a nice melody for this other part here," said Mina.

"I'll ask him, sweetheart," said Sonic calmly as he stood up, gave Mina a quick kiss on the cheek and walked over to his brother, who was hiding his face behind a book.

"Hey, lil' bro?" said Sonic, but Tails didn't move, "Tails?"

"What?" Tails' muffled voice asked from behind the book.

"Uh, Mina and I were not sure about this piece we wrote here and we're wondering if you could help us make it sound better?" said Sonic.

Tails placed the book on his lap, and Sonic stepped back when he noticed that the fox's eyes looked a little red with tears threatening to come out.

"Are you ... okay, lil' bro?" the hedgehog asked worryingly.

"Am I okay? Now you care about me after you've drawn your attention away from me in recent days!?" snapped Tails.

"Tails, what are you talking about?" said Sonic, sounding confused and worried at the same time.

"I've had enough of giving you advice when you don't do anything for me in return!" shouted Tails, and he stood up and locked his eyes on Sonic's, "You completely forgot that it's my birthday tomorrow! All the time you've spent with Mina and her music has left me in the shadows! I can't believe you'd forget my birthday, Sonic! Some brother you are sometimes!"

Sonic gasped in horror and covered his mouth with his hands. He couldn't believe he had forgotten all about Tails birthday being just a short time away. He wanted to punch himself for forgetting about his little brother's special day which he used to always remember, but Tails' words had already done that for him.

"Oh, Chaos," he gasped, "I ... I'm s-so sorry, lil' bro."

"You can say you're sorry once my birthday comes tomorrow and nobody does anything about it!" Tails snapped back, glaring with tears in his eyes, and he ran to the front door and stormed out, crying as he stumbled into the forest.

Sonic seemed frozen in place as Tails' words bit him hard. He couldn't believe that all that time he had spent helping with Mina's music had led him to shun Tails away with no regard towards his happiness like he should have had. Now, he felt so guilty for forgetting his concern for Tails' well-being, along with forgetting his birthday. He wished there was anything he could do to make it up for Tails.

Mina, who felt really sorry for Tails, stood next to Sonic and hugged him calmly, trying to not sniffle or cry herself. It was a good thing that Mina was sympathetic to Sonic, because if it had been any other girl like Amy, Sonic would most likely be knocked into next week by the pink hedgehog.

"What have I done?" asked Sonic despondently, "I just can't believe I forgot about Tails' birthday. I've never done that ever since I adopted him."

"I think we should do something for little Tails," sighed Mina, "If tomorrow is his birthday, then we should take a break from all this music and focus on his well being."

"What are we gonna do, though? He probably won't be expecting anything from me. I've been such a foolish brother," lamented Sonic.

"Please don't think bad about yourself," said Mina, "We're going to cheer Tails up one way or another, and tomorrow we'll give him a birthday he'll never forget."

"How do we do that?" questioned Sonic.

"I have a very good idea..." Mina answered in reply, as she brought him into her bedroom.

* * *

Later on, Sonic and Mina were running together into town, side by side, with their blue and purple auras flowing behind them. The hedgehog and mongoose ran past a few citizens in the small village, either making the, jump a bit from their fast running, or just feel annoyed by the slight disturbance. Sonic was still looking quite guilty about forgetting Tails' upcoming birthday tomorrow.

"Are you sure that she will help us out with this little surprise birthday party for Tails, Mina?" Sonic asked, uncertainly.

"I'm certain, sugar plum..." Mina replied, "The cashier lady is a kind and caring person, and she treats all her customer with care and respect. There's no other person I'd like to be served at Meh Burger, than that lovely lady."

They both raced over to Meh Burger, where they soon came to a slowing stop, and saw that the old lady walrus cashier was finished serving a customer politely at the register. As the customer walked away with their tray of food, the old lady walrus cashier soon spotted Sonic and Mina walking over to the counter, and seeing her favorite customers always placed a smile on her face.

But when she saw their concerned and thoughtful looks on their faces, the old walrus was then becoming concerned for her customers. She was also wearing a name tag on her shirt, which said 'Mabelle', which finally revealed her real name in this backstory.

"Hello, you two lovely lovebirds..." Mabelle spoke up, smiling with some concern, "What can I do for you guys?"

"Well, Mabelle..." Mina spoke up, clearing g her throat, "We need your help with something. It concerns Tails."

"Yeah, um..." Sonic added, still feeling guilty, "We kinda forgotten about his upcoming seventh birthday tomorrow."

Mabelle gasped lightly in stunned silence. She always knew that Sonic and Tails had a special mind of brotherly bond together, ever since the blue hedgehog had adopted Tails a few years ago, but the thought and hearing of Sonic forgetting about Tails' birthday was definitely a shocker.

And with her planned retirement coming up shortly, Mabelle thought that she could do something to help her favorite customers out, especially if it concerned someone's birthday.

"Well, I'm planning to retire in two days time, you guys..." Mabelle said, before giving a smile, "I don't know who will take over the role of management at Meh Burger when I leave, but I'm willing to help you out in anyway possible."

Sonic and Mina briefly glanced at each other, after hearing the word that their friend Mabelle was planning to retire from her job in two days. The thought of their friend retiring from the job she loved doing for years and also moving away from Bygone Island almost broke their hearts. But this was something that you could always come to in life, when you get much older.

"Ok, thank you so much, Mabelle..." Mina said, smiling gratefully, "We was wondering if you could possibly bake a cake for Tails for his birthday tomorrow, please?"

"We know this is a bit of a last minute thing to ask you, Mabelle..." Sonic added, rubbing his head with his hand, "But we really want to make it up to Tails for neglecting him in the past few days. And if there was anyone else who could possibly make a cake for my little brother's birthday, then it would be you."

Mabelle looked at Sonic and Mina, and she felt touched by their words. It made her hand touch her heart. Sure, this request of making a birthday cake at the last moment was a bit of a surprise, and most people would say no to last minute things.

But since she knew Sonic and Mina were her regular customers, and she had been supporting their relationship for a few weeks, since the events of the Meh Burger concert show, Mabelle was looking more than willing to help out her friends more than looking forward to her retirement.

Nodding, Mabelle shook hands with Sonic and Mina, confirming the offer that the hedgehog and mongoose were asking her.

"I would be honored to make a birthday cake for Tails, you guys..." Mabelle replied, smiling politely, "I'll try my best to make your little brother a birthday cake he'll really like, Sonic. Does he like Victoria Sponge cake?"

The mention of 'Victoria Sponge' then suddenly caused Mina to brighten up in excitement, as her taste buds tingled at the thought of said cake. Sonic noticed his girlfriend's excitement of a cake she most likely loved, and he couldn't help but chuckle at Mina's happy looking and sparkly eyed expression.

"Victoria Sponge?!" Mina exclaimed, excitedly, "Ooh, I love Victoria Sponge!"

"Hmm... I don't think he's ever tried Victoria Sponge..." Sonic said, looking at his excited girlfriend, before turning back to Mabelle, "But I guess we'll find out what he thinks of it, when he tastes the cake."

"Alrighty, Sonic..." Mabelle said, nodding with a smile, "One Victoria Sponge cake for Tails' birthday will be made as soon as possible."

"Thank you so much, Mabelle..." Mina then said, smiling in gratitude as she wrapped an arm around Sonic's shoulder, "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

"Oh, no it's alright by me, dearie..." Mabelle responded, shaking her head with her smile seen on her face, "I'm more than happy to make this cake for you guys for absolutely free. No charge necessary!"

At first, after hearing that, Sonic and Mina were greatly surprised by the fact Mabelle was willing to make the Victoria Sponge cake for Tails' birthday for free and with no charge. Most people would charge a great deal of money for a birthday cake to be made specially, and even some, as mentioned before, would refuse to make a birthday cake at a moment's last notice.

Their surprised looks were soon replaced by very grateful and bright smiles, seeing that the lady walrus cashier who was soon to retire in less than 48 hours time, was willing to make them the cake absolutely free of charge.

"Oh, thank you so very much!" Mina exclaimed happily, as she and Sonic hugged each other lovingly.

"Aww, you're both very welcome..." Mabelle responded, smiling at the two lovebirds, "It's the least I can do for you both, before my retirement comes up."

Nodding in response to the old lady walrus cashier, Sonic and Mina then waved her a goodbye and they raced off together to head back into the town and gather up some of their friends to discuss what to do with the birthday plan that Mina had said to Sonic about.

* * *

 ** _So, it looks like Mina, Sonic and Tails have officially become popular in the Unnamed Village, and with new villager Zooey being introduced into town by Perci, we can see that Tails has shown his first signs of taking a real liking to the vixen girl._**

 ** _But Sonic has forgotten Tails' seventh birthday, and it's broken the poor two-tailed fox's spirits. So now, to make it up to him for spending his time with his girlfriend, Sonic, with Mina's help, must set up a special birthday party for Tails._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER ELEVEN: A birthday party that Tails would never forget!  
_**


	12. Chapter 11: Tails' Birthday (Part 1)

We've had to split the birthday party in two parts, because we have been keeping this chapter away for two weeks, and we should release it as a two-part chapter. Plus, the chapter is getting a bit too long to be one whole chapter.

* * *

 ** _CHAPTER 11_**

 ** _Tails' Birthday (Part 1)_**

* * *

Sonic and Mina had just left Meh Burger, after asking Mabelle if she could make a Victoria Sponge birthday cake for Tails' seventh birthday, which she kindly agreed to do, even if it was a last-minute thing. Right now, the blue hedgehog and mongoose girl were gathering up a few of their friends just outside of the much smaller fruit market, which was less stocked than what it currently was in the present time.

The people they gathered were Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Mike the Ox and Perci the Bandicoot, who had brought new villager Zooey along with her, as the two were doing some shopping, before Sonic called them over.

Sonic and Mina were now telling them about their last-minute plan to create a birthday party for Tails, as a way for them to make him feel better, after Sonic himself neglected his little brother over helping his girlfriend with the start of her music career. And fair to say, Amy was the first one to scold Sonic, like any other character would do.

"Sonic! How could you just easily forget about Tails' birthday?!" Amy scolded, clearly not happy after hearing what Sonic unintentionally did.

"Hey! I didn't mean to forget about his seventh birthday, alright?!" Sonic exclaimed, defensively, "I was helping Mina so much that I completely forget all about Tails and his birthday!"

"Helping Mina with what?" said Amy suspiciously.

"With ... her music," said Sonic uneasily.

"Hmph," pouted Amy, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Mike and Perci gave a quick glance at each other, sensing that something was going on with Amy. They knew that Sonic was with Mina, and he was really happy with being with the mongoose, but something felt a bit off with Amy at the moment, as she seemed to not like seeing Sonic with Mina.

Deciding to at least try and break up the slight argument the two hedgehogs were going through, Perci then spoke up.

"What should we get Tails for his birthday?" asked Perci, as she quickly tried to change the subject.

"Well, I wish I knew what to give him, but I don't really know him all that well yet," sighed Mina, then she turned to Sonic, "You know Tails better than anyone, Sonic, so I'm sure you could think of the perfect birthday gift."

Sonic was thinking of many different possibilities as to what he knew Tails would like. Then, one particular idea suddenly spiraled into his head. He knew it was something his little brother would love so much...

"I know just what to give Tails for his birthday!" he said as he stood up and turned to leave, "I shan't be long!"

With those words, he sped away, leaving a cloud of blue smoke in the restaurant as everyone simply watched dumbfounded.

"I wonder what he's up to?" asked Knuckles cluelessly.

"Your guess is as good as mine," sighed Amy sarcastically.

As Sonic sped off into the distance, Amy glared at him while no one was looking at her. She could feel her irritation getting ready to explode any day now. It would only be a matter of time before it was open for everyone to see.

"Okay, guys," said Mina, taking Amy's attention away from the blue cloud of smoke that Sonic had left behind, "We need to come up with some sort of plan to give Tails a birthday he'll never forget. So, does anybody have any ideas?"

"If we're going to surprise him, there's no better place to do it than his own house," suggested Perci.

"I was thinking we could add some disco in there," added Mike, "Personally, I'd like to see him dance, and I haven't had the chance to see it yet."

"Well, he only just learned to do it right just a short time ago," sighed Mina, "He's still getting it."

"Wait a minute," called Amy, "If we're gonna surprise Tails, then shouldn't someone get him to come out of the house for a while? We can't surprise him if he's still indoors."

"Well, you think you could take him out to practice some dancing?" asked Knuckles.

"I could, but to be honest, I need to give my dancing a break for a few days," sighed Amy, "And Mina's probably a better dancing teacher to Tails than I am. You saw how well she taught him at that dance not so long ago."

"Oh, Amy," blushed Mina, "It was kinda nothing that night, really."

"I guess someone else could take Tails out," said Knuckles, shrugging his shoulders uncertainly.

"I … I could … take him out," came a stuttering voice that surprised everyone, and they all turned to Zooey, shaking nervously.

"Really?" gasped Perci, "Are you sure you'd want to do that? I mean, you hardly know him at all."

"I'm s-sure," nodded Zooey, "I think it would … b-be a good way to … get to know … T-Tails … a little better."

"That's a great idea, Zooey!" beamed Perci, "Once you get to know Tails a little more, you might find that you have quite some things in common."

"Well then, I suppose the rest of you can set up the decorations and get the house ready once Tails leaves," said Mina.

"Knuckles and I can set up the decorations," said Amy.

"I'll go look for a nice disco ball," added Mike.

"Mina and I can go look for Sonic, … wherever he is, … and we'll shop for some birthday presents," said Perci.

"Does anyone have any suggestions for birthday presents?" asked Mina.

Amy, Knuckles and Perci quickly started flowing birthday present suggestions around. Mina wrote them all down on a piece of paper and hid it in her pocket.

"Okay, everyone," Mina announced, "Here's the plan: Tomorrow, we'll all arrive at Tails' house. Perci will come to the door and reintroduce Tails and Zooey to each other. Nobody else goes in until Perci gives the signal. Once Tails and Zooey are gone, we're going in."

"Got it!" said Knuckles.

"Alright! It's all settled!" said Perci.

"We'll rendezvous at Tails' house tomorrow," said Mike, "In the meantime, I'm gonna go look for a disco ball."

"Zooey and I are gonna head back to our street and get ready," said Perci, "I'm sure that everything will go as planned tomorrow."

"See you later, guys," said Mina.

"Bye!" they all said before they left the market place.

Once Mina turned back to Amy, she noticed that the hedgehog was glaring at her a bit. She immediately grew concerned for her, but also confused. Why would Amy be glaring at her in particular?

"Um, Amy? Are you feeling okay? You seem to have gotten very moody lately," the mongoose said with concern.

This made Amy stop glaring, as she didn't want to reveal the truth behind her recent mood swings.

"Uh, yeah, um, I'm okay," she stammered, "Just a little … frustrated with Sonic for forgetting about Tails' birthday. I can't believe he'd ever do that."

Mina didn't quite feel convinced, but it sounded like a valid excuse.

"Hmm, okay," she nodded, "Well, I guess that since Perci decided to head back home, I'd better go find Sonic and show him this list of birthday present suggestions. He could be shopping anywhere right now. See you guys tomorrow!"

With that, the mongoose sped off, leaving behind a cloud of purple smoke.

"Wow! She's fast!" said Knuckles admiringly.

Amy again glared at Mina as she disappeared into the town square. She desperately wanted to lash out at her for "stealing Sonic's heart from her," but with Tails' birthday being right around the corner, she knew that now was not the best time. She was so determined, however, to get back at the girl whom had beaten her to Sonic.

And before she could say a word about Mina Mongoose, Amy was then interrupted by Knuckles, who was about ready to go with his super speed. He was still wearing his mail job jacket and name tag, and he had his mail bag slung over his back. It looked like when he was called to meet up by Sonic and Mina, he was just on his ten-minute lunch break from his Mail Express service.

"Well, I'd better get back to my Mail Express service, Amy!" Knuckles said, hopping up and down on the spot, "I've had my lunch break and I must get the next mail delivery done for Dinsdale! See you later!"

And with that, Knuckles took off at speed, running from the middle of town and racing off back to the Post Office, leaving Amy behind in a cloud of dust. Amy coughed a bit from the dust and only glared to herself once more, thinking about Mina apparently 'stealing' Sonic from her, when of course, this wasn't true.

"Hmph..." Amy said to herself, "One day, Mina Mongoose will see just what happens when she takes away my Sonic from me."

Dusting herself off, Amy then walked off to go and find some decorations for the surprise birthday party for Tails' birthday tomorrow. However, Amy would later find herself reconsidering her thoughts much later on, and find that Mina was not really a bad person in her mind.

When the two got home, Perci and Zooey began making their plans to get Tails out of his house, in order to set up the special birthday party for his seventh. Although she was really nervous and had only seen Tails once or twice, Zooey was willing to spend a bit of time with Tails, at least until the party was ready for her to take Tails to see.

During this time as they were working on their idea, Perci taught Zooey how to be a little more brave in the public, as the bandicoot could see how really nervous Zooey was out in the public. It kind of reminded her of how Tails was nervous when he was young and out in public. Then, once they completed their plans, Perci then left to go and meet up with Mina and Sonic.

Knuckles carried out his 'Mail Express' duties for Dinsdale at the Post Office, while trying to think about a nice surprise for Tails for his birthday party, and Mike was looking around the town carefully to try and find a good quality disco ball for the mini disco for the party. There were many different designs, with one or two of them being broken and shattered, because of rough handling with its past owners.

Amy did eventually stop thinking about her jealousy of Mina for a temporary time, as she went looking for some party decorations to use for decorating Tails' home with for the party. All of these last-minute things were certainly taking the friends some hurrying times, but it was not pressuring them in the least, so that was a good thing.

As for Sonic, he eventually met up with Mina and Perci, and together the three of them went through the birthday list suggestions that their friends had listed their ideas on. As they went birthday shopping at a last minute's notice, their only thoughts were that Tails would really love the birthday surprise that he was going to get on the following next day.

The next morning...

The hours passed, and the night quickly went by as fast as Sonic and Mina could run at their supersonic speeds. It was now morning time, on the day of Tails' seventh birthday, and while Sonic, Mina and their friends had finished their shopping and planning for the surprise birthday party, Tails was unaware of the day he was going to be in for, after his little outburst at Sonic, yesterday.

Before we get to that, when Mina was in her house getting herself ready for helping to make the birthday party, Mina did receive a letter in the post from Dinsdale the Coyote, which was from her music agent, Benjamin Walrus, which then explained about how popular the songs she had made for the record label had become, and that they were now paying her twice as much money for her best-selling songs and albums. Mina was so happy and excited over her successful music career, that she decided that she needed to plan out a live concert night in the village for her fans to see her perform the songs they now loved on stage.

Back to our story, as the sun was finally starting to rise outside in the small and quiet town of Unnamed Village, Tails could feel the warm rays of sunshine on his golden like fur, as the now recently turned seven year old fox was beginning to wake up from the warmth of the early morning sun, which gave him a warm feeling that made it feel like he was under his blankets.

Yawning, and moving himself from under his cozy blankets, Tails sat up in his makeshift bed and rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the tiredness within them. He turned away from the bright sunlight, as it was a bit bright for his eyes to look at, and then turned to look at the floor of his home, thinking about something.

"Why did I lash out at Sonic?" Tails asked himself, almost sadly, thinking about how angry he got at Sonic yesterday, "I shouldn't have yelled at him yesterday, when he forgot about my birthday. I know he loves to spend time with Mina and help her with her songs and music, and I'm really happy for her, but Sonic kinda left me in the shadows, like if I was not important to him anymore. But ... I shouldn't have yelled at him, just because he forgot about my seventh birthday."

Thinking his lash out at Sonic yesterday made Tails' heart sink a bit. It pained him that he had blindly shouted at the one big brother who took him in a few years ago and adopted him as his little brother when they formed a strong unbreakable bond. And now because of his little lash out, which was that he realized was now unnecessary, Tails was certain Sonic or his friends would do anything nice for him on his birthday.

"I bet I hurt Sonic so much yesterday, he's probably afraid of me, or he might not want to do something with me for my birthday..." Tails said, sighing to himself, as tears attempted to come down from his eyes, "All because I had to shout at him! Now, I have no one to celebrate my seventh birthday with. But I think I should go and say my sorry to Sonic. That's at least one thing I could do today."

Taking a deep sigh to himself and rubbing his eyes of any possible tears, Tails got off his bed and went over to get himself some breakfast. Perhaps some Coco Rings would at least try and cheer him up this morning.

*Knock, Knock*

But then, the sound of someone knocking on the front door to his house stopped Tails from proceeding into the kitchen area, and made him look at the front door. He wasn't expecting anyone to come knocking on the door at this time of the day, especially if it was a strange person, whom he would get really nervous about whenever Sonic wasn't around.

However, Tails was a bit too down to even feel scared or nervous at the moment. So, instead of feeling nervous or shaken, Tails went to the front door and spoke through the letter box of it.

"W-Who is it?" Tails asked, "Is that you, Sonic?"

"No Tails, it's me, Perci..." The voice said on the other side of the door, "Do you mind if I come in?"

Tails felt a little surprised by hearing Perci wanted to come in to see him. He was so used to seeing Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Mina coming to visit him in his house, that he didn't actually have or invite anyone else from the town to see him in his humble home. It was a bit strange really, as Tails was feeling that something was up about the bandicoot coming to visit his home.

But he soon shifted his suspicions aside for a while, and went to open the door. And when he did, Tails saw Perci looking at him with her usual smile and wearing her regular attire. She was a really nice person Perci was, and Tails liked that she could always do her part for the town.

Opening the door up, Tails soon saw Perci standing in the doorway, smiling nicely at him, but what he didn't know was that a familiar and very shy yellow vixen was also with the bandicoot.

"Good morning, Tails..." Perci said, smiling, "Happy birthday to you."

"Oh, hey thanks, I suppose..." Tails said, trying to smile at her, "At least someone remembers my birthday. Anyways, what can I do for you, Perci?"

"Well, it's actually what I can do for you, Tails..." Perci replied, smiling, "I know someone who is willing to take you out and look around the town today."

Turning around, Perci then gestured for Zooey to come on in, and when Tails saw Zooey, he almost had his heart stuck in his throat at seeing this pretty vixen in person for a second time, even a few weeks after they first met during the autograph signing.

Seeing the vixen made Tails feel warm inside, even if the girl was still a bit new to the town.

"H-Hey Tails..." Zooey stuttered, feeling nervous, "Happy birthday."

"Hello Zooey..." Tails responded, who was not as nervous as her, but he still felt a bit enchanted by her.

"I... I was w-wondering, if you'd like ... t-to hang out with ... m-me in t-town, today?" Zooey asked, nervously stuttering and trying to keep her eye contact on Tails focused.

Tails looked at Zooey and blinked in a bit of surprise. Just a moment ago, he was feeling a bit regretful of shouting at Sonic for forgetting his birthday yesterday, but now, Zooey asking him if he would like to go into the town with her sounded like a little something that could possibly help brighten up his spirits just a bit.

Perci, seeing Tails was a bit lost for words, then decided to explain for him.

"Yesterday Tails, Zooey said that she wanted to get to know you a little bit better, and she felt that she could take you out into the town for a few hours, get to know one another, and maybe even do a little bit of shopping together..." Perci said, smiling,

"R-Really?" Tails asked, feeling his shyness coming into his mind again, "B-But, I don't know Z-Zooey that m-much..."

"Aww, I'm sure you both will have lots in common!" Perci insisted, giggling, "Just go out into the town and have a nice day out together for your birthday, Tails. I'm certain Zooey is very keen on getting to know you better."

Tails glanced up to Perci for a brief few seconds, then he looked back to a nervous looking Zooey, who was giving him a small shy smile, before he then nodded slowly and deciding to take the opportunity to get to know the vixen that he had dreamed about when he first met her weeks ago.

"Ok then, Perci..." Tails said, "I guess I could get to know Zooey more today. We hardly got to properly introduce ourselves when we first met."

"That's good, then!" Perci said, smiling, "You go and get yourself ready, Tails, and I'll wait with Zooey outside."

"If you say so..." Tails responded, as he walked off into his house, feeling unsure on what was going on.

And while Tails went inside to go and get himself ready for his little day out with Zooey, both Perci and Zooey went to wait outside and have a small private talk between one another, and Zooey was soon wondering on where she could take Tails to, while the party was being set up by the others.

"So, ... um, ... w-where should I take him?" asked Zooey nervously.

"Just take him into town, Zooey," smiled Perci, "Perhaps he could help you out with some shopping, or you could help out with his, and you might get to know him better."

"Um, ... okay," said Zooey, sweating.

Perci promptly hugged her friend to help her calm down.

"Don't worry, Zooey," the bandicoot said softly, "When everything is ready, I'll come and find you while Tails is looking at something he likes."

"Okay," said Zooey, "Hmm, ... I wonder what he does like?"

Perci didn't get a chance to respond before the door opened and Tails came back out, looking very neat and ready to go.

"Okay. I'm ready," he said, then he noticed Zooey again, and his mind started to falter into another dreamy trance. It seemed that just the pure sight of this beautiful girl would make the fox zone out. He thought she was simply the most beautiful girl in the world...

"Um, Tails? Are you feeling alright?" asked Zooey with concern.

"Oh dear," sighed Perci, realizing what was wrong with Tails, "Hang on, Zooey."

The bandicoot brought her hand in front of Tails' face and snapped her fingers.

"Huh!?" gasped Tails as the noise snapped him back to reality, "Zooey? Perci?"

"Are you sure you're alright, Tails? You looked like you had ... kinda ... zoned out," said Zooey.

Tails immediately realized what had happened, and he blushed sheepishly.

"Oh, uh, yes, of course," he chuckled in embarrassment, "Sorry about that. I, ... uh, ... well, ... um, ... shall we ... go to town, ... Zooey?"

"S-sure, Tails," smiled Zooey nervously, and she stepped aside to let Tails lead her, "After you."

Tails' cheeks turned pink, and he led Zooey down the forest path that would lead them to town.

The moment the two foxes were out of her sight, Perci whistled loudly towards the forest. Sonic, Mina, Mike, Amy and Knuckles all came out of their hiding spots behind the trees and stepped out onto Tails' open lawn.

"Okay, everyone. They're gone. Let's get to work right away," announced Perci.

Nobody needed to be told twice. They all got straight to work to get Tails' house ready for his birthday.

Meanwhile, in town, Tails and Zooey were talking nervously to each other as they walked down the street. Nobody really paid much attention to them as they walked past.

"So, ... Zooey, heh, ... when you come to town?" asked Tails.

"I came here a few months ago from another island," answered Zooey, "I'm still getting used to everything here. Thankfully, Perci's been a great neighbor."

"She's a really nice person," recalled Tails, "And I see ... you're shy and a bit nervous, like me."

"Do you get shy or nervous, too?" asked Zooey.

Tails sighed and sank his head.

"You'd have no idea," he muttered.

"Is something wrong, Tails?" said Zooey nervously, thinking she had asked the wrong question.

"N-no. It's just ... I ... I don't really like being out in p-public, ... especially without Sonic or ... Mina," stuttered Tails, "A lot of people ... d-don't really like me."

"I'm sure they like you, Tails. Maybe you just need a little more time outdoors, and you'll be much better at making friends," said Zooey, "At least, that's what Perci told me."

"In my dreams," whispered Tails to himself.

"Maybe I could, ... well, ... h-help you get over that fear," suggested Zooey.

Tails perked up at this and looked at Zooey in surprise.

"R-Really?" Tails stuttered.

"Sure, Tails," smiled Zooey, "I've been learning a lot from Perci, so maybe that could help you, too."

"Th-thank you," Tails smiled nervously, "You wanna do some ... shopping with me?"

"Sure, Tails," grinned Zooey, "I'll let you decide, since you're the birthday boy."

Tails blushed upon being called that name.

"Where do you like to shop?" asked Zooey.

"Hehe. How about the plane parts store? I love getting parts for the Tornado there," chuckled Tails.

"Okay, Tails. After you," said Zooey.

Tails felt his cheeks turning red as Zooey followed him to the plane parts store.

The two friends would have a great morning together. After shopping at the plane parts store, they stopped at Meh Burger and had a soda together. The waitress gave Tails plenty of smiles as if she knew that it was his birthday and a big surprise awaited him. Tails tried to keep it out of his mind, but he couldn't help but think that something WAS awaiting him later that day.

Then, Zooey came up with the idea to go to the fruit market once they finished their soda and left the restaurant.

"I'm sure you didn't know this, Tails, but as much as you love planes, I love fruits," said Zooey.

"Really?" said Tails with interest.

"I especially love watermelons," smiled Zooey, licking her lips as she thought happily about melons, "They're the most delicious fruits in the entire world."

Then, just as they arrived at the market, two familiar voices rudely interrupted them...

"Hey, look!" said one of the voices, whom Tails instantly recognized as Dave, one of the townspeople who bullied Tails frequently, "The two-tailed freak's got a new girlfriend!"

Tails flinched at that horrible name. Every time he heard the word, 'freak', it was a constant reminder of the torture he had endured before he met Sonic; a reminder of why the world looked down on him.

Zooey could see Tails frozen in place and his lips quivering at that "forbidden" word (as Sonic had put it), and she turned and saw who the culprits were.

"And who is this girl, Willy?" said Dave teasingly, "Goldilocks the Fox?"

However, Zooey didn't let insults get stuck in her head like Tails did, and she stood protectively in front of her two-tailed friend.

"Be quiet, you fools!" she shouted, gaining the attention of several nearby villagers.

"Ha! You ain't so tough, girly! You're just like him!" said Willy, and she pushed the vixen into a box of watermelons.

"AH!" she screamed as she fell in, sending melon juice flying everywhere.

"Zooey!" gasped Tails in horror, while Dave and Willy laughed heartlessly.

Several watermelons were broken, and Zooey was covered in watermelon juice and seeds.

"My dress!" cried Zooey, brushing herself off before Tails helped her back up.

"You see what happens to anyone who becomes friends with a two-tailed freak of nature!?" chortled Willy, "It makes you just as much a freak as he is!"

Suddenly, Tails' whole body started shaking, not with fear, but with fury. He couldn't stand it to see some heartless wretch bully his new friend in the same way he was constantly harassed because of his extra tail. He clenched his fists and turned around, giving Dave and Willy a frightening death glare.

"Leave Zooey alone, you idiots!" he yelled.

"Why?" huffed Dave, "Who'd want to be friends with you?"

"You're just a worthless freak of nature! You were born a freak, you'll die a freak, and only your tails will mourn you!" added Willy.

"DON'T ... EVER ... TOUCH ... THIS BEAUTIFUL YOUNG VIXEN ... EVER ... AGAIN!" screamed Tails, silencing the two bullies and making some bystanders step back, "She didn't do anything to you, and you felt it right to ruin her lovely red dress in that watermelon box! Shame on you both! Now, LEAVE US ALONE AND GET OUTTA HERE!"

Dave and Willy just stared at Tails with deep shock. They had never seen Tails get this angry before. They knew they had crossed the line.

Tails did not notice that Zooey was blushing deeply after hearing the fox call her, 'beautiful'.

"B-beautiful?" she whispered to herself, "He thinks I-I'm ... b-be-beautiful?"

"Fine!" said Dave, "But to us, you're still a freak and you always will be!"

"AND DON'T EVER CALL ME A FREAK AGAIN, OR I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT MY SO-CALLED FREAK-ISH DEFECT CAN DO TO A HEARTLESS WRETCH LIKE YOU!" screamed Tails.

Dave and Willy took several steps back as Tails put on a threatening posture, and that was enough to make them turn around and run off, cowering in fear.

As soon as the bullies were gone, Tails managed to calm himself down with deep breaths, and he turned his attention back to Zooey.

"Are you okay, Zooey?" he asked.

"I-I'll be okay, Tails," answered Zooey, "Th-thanks for standing up for me. You were amazing."

"You're welcome," smiled Tails, then he noticed her messy dress, "Come on. I'll take you to a clothes shop to get you cleaned up."

"Tha-thanks, Tails," stuttered Zooey.

"Tails, ... that was amazing," said one of the villagers whom had watched the whole thing.

"I never thought someone like you could stand up to your friends like that," said another villager from Tails recognized as one of the townspeople who previously thought coldly of him.

Tails simply smiled as he led Zooey away, while many townspeople were staring at him in amazement. The fox simply carried on, unaware of his sudden newfound popularity.

Meanwhile, back in Tails' house, Amy and Knuckles were busy decorating the living room and kitchen, while Sonic, Mina and Perci were wrapping Tails' birthday presents. Mike then walked in with the disco ball he had bought for the occasion.

"Where should I put this disco ball, Mina?" the ox asked.

"I think it'll be nice over the living room space, right above the table in front of the TV," answered Mina, "We can move the table aside so we can have plenty of room to dance to it later, and we'll put it back when the party's over."

"Okay," nodded Mike, "Could you help me with it, please, Mina?"

"Sure. No problem," smiled Mina, and she grabbed a big stool that Mike could use to reach the ceiling.

"Sweetheart," said Sonic to his girlfriend, "Are you sure Tails will like these presents?"

"I'm sure he will, sugar plum," answered Mina, "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he comes home. He'll probably have the cutest face of all."

Sonic chuckled at the thought of seeing an adorable smile on his little brother's face. Those were typically his favorite moments when it came to the brotherly times he spent with his little brother.

He only hoped now that Tails would be able to forgive him for forgetting about his birthday just yesterday. The slight memory of Tails shouting out at him still continued to play in his mind, even if it was only just a day ago. Mina just so happened to notice her boyfriend's uncomfortable expression, and so she went over to comfort him in the best way she could, by hugging him tightly.

"Don't feel bad, sugar plum..." Mina said, softly, kissing his cheek gently, "We all make mistakes. I'm sure Tails did y mean to yell at you."

"I know, sweetheart..." Sonic sighed, gently nuzzling his face into Mina's cheek, "But, I really felt I let Tails down yesterday, with forgetting his birthday and spending more time with you on your music and not with him. I think it really hurt his feelings that I forgot about him."

"Sonic, Tails is bound to forgive you!" Knuckles was heard saying, as he and Amy put up the last of the decorations, "He's just like me! If he can't take it seriously, then he can take it the hard way!"

The room went silent, as the others just stared at Knuckles with a few glares on their faces, finding his humor to be a little inappropriate. Knuckles looked across to everyone, before he turned around and tried to whistle innocently, like if he wasn't even in the room, while he walked to another part of the workshop, his soft toy weights dragging behind his feet.

Perci was also actually not impressed by Knuckles' comment, as she found his humor to be as dry as a desert plain in the sands of Egypt. Mike just didn't wish to get involved with any of this going on, and so he quietly resumed fitting the new disco ball to the ceiling, before he managed to fit it on there perfectly.

"Disco ball is ready..." Mike said, climbing down from the stool Mina gave to him.

"Decorations are all prepared!" Amy added.

"Presents are wrapped..." Perci stated, as she and Sonic held up their newly wrapped presents for Tails.

"And our special birthday party for Tails is all ready for him!" Mina concluded, excitedly, "Ooh, I cannot wait for him to see the surprise we made for him!"

The whole workshop looked very birthday party esc indeed. Streamers and decorations were neatly hung across the walls, the tables had recently been laid out with party food and soft drinks, the disco ball hung above the ceiling gleaming well, and the presents were nearly wrapped and ready.

All that was needed now was the special Victoria Sponge birthday cake from Mabelle, and then everything would be ready for the birthday party. Mina had picked up seven candles for the cake, and she needed to do was stick them on the cake, when Mabelle brings it over to them.

"Perci, would you like to go and find Zooey and tell her that the special birthday party for Tails is ready?" Mina requested politely.

"I'd be happy to, Mina..." Perci answered, nodding, "I've promised to find Zooey and tell her when the party was ready for the birthday boy. I shan't be long."

Perci stood up and headed on out from the workshop and into the town to go and find Zooey, wherever she was with Tails in the small town. As she went outside, the others sat around and waited for the bandicoot to come back with Zooey and Tails. During the waiting, Sonic and Mina began to cuddle each other lovingly, nuzzling one another gently, while Amy just sulked a tiny bit, almost in envy at what she was seeing.

Then, the door was heard knocking. To get herself away from the sight of seeing Sonic and his girlfriend Mina cuddling together, Amy went to answer the door, and when she opened it, the pink hedgehog soon saw the pleasant sight of Mabelle, who was carrying a big box in her hands. This must've been the birthday cake specially made for Tails' birthday.

"Ah, hello Mabelle..." Amy said, smiling a bit, "You've made the birthday cake."

"Yes, just as I promised!" Mabelle replied, smiling, "I've planned it out very carefully with help from some of my staff at Meh Burger, and they have perfectly checked the cake over to see that it's fresh and just the way they made it. I'm sure Tails will love it!"

Sonic and Mina saw Mabelle, who brought the box in, and placed it on the kitchen table. When the old lady walrus cashier opened up the box, inside was a gorgeously made Victoria Sponge cake, which had whipped cream and strawberry jam in the middle of the two flour dusted cake slices. The cake looked so gorgeous right now, that everyone just wanted to have a slice of it.

And fair to say, Sonic and Mina were very surprised indeed by Mabelle and her staff's cooking abilities.

"Oh, my goodness! That looks absolutely beautiful!" Mina exclaimed, eyes sparkling happily, "Tails will LOVE this cake, when he sees it!"

"Mabelle, within the years I have seen your professionally trained staff cook the food and Chilli Dogs at Meh Burger..." Sonic said, before giving the old lady walrus cashier a thumbs up, "This is their best work yet. Thank you so much for making this cake at a last-minute notice."

"Aww, you're very welcome, Sonic..." Mabelle stated, smiling politely, "You guys are my regular and favorite customers, and it was really nice to make a Victoria Sponge before I retire tomorrow."

"Will you stay for the party please, Mabelle?" Mina asked, clasping her hands hopefully, "We would like for you to join us for Tails' birthday party, before you retire tomorrow."

"Well, of course I'll stay!" Mabelle said, happily, "I might be an old walrus, but I like to attend people's parties whenever I can!"

The group all shared smiles with each other, as Mina then went to get the seven candles for the birthday cake. All they had to do now, is wait for Perci to come back and then they could all get ready to surprise Tails.

* * *

 ** _Tails may have had an okay start to his birthday, but little does he know that he's in for a big surprise!_**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER TWELVE: Sonic and friends treat Tails to a wacky surprise party for his seventh birthday!_**


	13. Chapter 12: Tails' Birthday (Part 2)

**_Here we arrive at chapter twelve of our Lost Love project! It's taken us a while, but we have been working together really well on this fanfic since earlier this year. ^^_**

 ** _In our next chapter, we will continue from where we left off where Tails gets a very big surprise on his birthday, when he finds his friends have remembered his special day and set up a surprise birthday party for him._**

 ** _We hope you enjoy the second part of Tails' Birthday in the story. The main story of Sonic and Mina will be the main focus again after this chapter is finished._**

 ** _We sincerely apologize for the long delay for the next chapter, as we have been encountering difficulties in keeping focus on the story. We had a few things changed in this chapter for almost a month before we finally got to finishing it._**

 ** _Enjoy!_**

* * *

 ** _CHAPTER 12_**

 ** _Tails' Birthday (Part 2)_**

* * *

Not too far away, Tails and Zooey were walking out of the town on their way back to the two-tailed fox's house. He had taken his new friend to a clothes store and got Zooey a new dress, and now she looked as good as new again. It took them more than an hour to find the perfect dress for her, but once Tails found Zooey a lovely summer's dress with flowers on it, he had immediately bought it for his friend.

Occasionally, Tails would look at Zooey and get that dreamy feeling in his chest, although he would quickly look away to prevent himself from letting Zooey find him looking like some kind of fool. He began to wonder if this was how Sonic felt when he first set his eyes on Mina.

"Thank you for buying this lovely new dress for me, Tails..." Zooey said, politely, as she carried her red messy dress in a bag.

"Heh! You're welcome, Zooey!" Tails replied, chuckling, "Those idiots shouldn't have ruined your red dress in the first place."

"Tails! Zooey!" called another voice that snapped Tails out of his trance, "There you two are!"

"Oh. Hi, Perci," said Zooey as she noticed the bandicoot nearby.

"I've been looking for you for a while now..." said Perci, trying not to give away the secret.

"Is everything alright?" asked Tails in confusion.

"Everything's fine, Tails..." smiled Perci, "How has your time in town been going?"

"It was pretty interesting..." grinned Zooey, "There's so much about Tails that I never could have imagined."

"See what I mean when it comes to getting to know people?" winked Perci, "Anyways, it's almost time for dinner. Wanna come back home to get some food, Tails?"

"Uh, ... sure?" answered Tails awkwardly.

Perci then winked at Zooey, and she could tell that she was telling her that everything at Tails' house was all set. All they needed was for Tails to come home.

"Come on, guys!" said Perci as she led Tails and Zooey back to the two-tailed fox's house, by walking through the forest area.

A few minutes went by, and everything was ready. The decorations were complete, the disco ball was set, the cake had its candles waiting to be lit, and the presents were hidden under the table in front of the couch. All that was missing was the birthday boy himself. Sonic and the others were pacing anxiously around the house, awaiting Tails' return.

Sonic, Mina, Amy, Knuckles and Mike were waiting around the decorated living room, while Mabelle was waiting in the kitchen, being hidden away so that she could be ready to present Tails with the cake she made for his special birthday.

"I'm gonna take a peak out the window, sugar plum," Mina said to Sonic.

"Go ahead, sweetie," replied Sonic, kissing her on the lips quickly.

Blushing and giggling to her boyfriend, the mongoose girl then walked up to the window next to the front door, and she once she looked out of it, she spotted Tails, Zooey and Perci all coming out of the forest.

"They're coming! Everyone hide!" Mina shouted to the others, and they all obeyed and took their positions in various hiding spots so Tails couldn't see them when he walked in.

Within a few seconds, they heard the sound of the door opening, and Tails, Zooey and Perci all walked into the living room. Perci had blindfolded Tails just before he walked in, so he had no idea what he was about to see.

"Perci, I thought you said we were going to have lunch," said Tails.

"Well, I thought of a much more special lunch that I know you'd enjoy," chuckled Perci, while Zooey tried her best not to giggle, knowing what was coming next as Perci began to untie the blindfold.

The instant Tails regained his eyesight, he was met with the sight of a beautifully decorated living room, and before he had enough time to register the next thought...

"SURPRISE!"

The fox jumped and jolted in surprise as his friends all jumped out of their hiding places and threw confetti all over the living room and kitchen. He couldn't believe this was really happening. His friends had all remembered his birthday, and they were all here to share the happiness with him, even Sonic. The fox hadn't felt his happy in a long time.

"Oh, you guys!" he chuckled sheepishly, "I can't believe you all remembered!"

"Happy birthday, Tails!" everyone shouted joyously.

"Oh, thank you all so much!" said Tails as a few happy tears leaked from his eyes.

"After Sonic and I seemed to forget about your birthday, we knew we had to make this birthday extra special, because we want you to know that we all care deeply about you, little Tails," smiled Mina.

"Really?" Asked a surprised Tails.

"Really, really," replied Mina, who quickly leant in and kissed the young fox's cheek.

"Just wait 'til you see the cake!" said Perci, "You'll love it!"

"Oh, please don't spoil it for me!" blushed Tails.

As Tails' friends brought him into the kitchen, he was surprised to see Mabelle sitting at the table with a covered cake plate.

"Oh! Hi, Mabelle!" said Tails, "I didn't expect to see you here! I'm really gonna miss having you at Meh Burger."

"Hello, birthday boy, and I'm gonna miss you, too," replied Mabelle, "Which is why your friends asked me to give you a very special something."

"Oh, boy! Now you have me more excited!" giggled Tails eccentrically.

"In doing this, I'd also like to thank you for doing something very special for me," said Mabelle.

"Wh-what might that be, Mabelle?" asked Tails.

"You just became ... my very last customer," smiled Mabelle.

"Aww, shucks!" blushed Tails in bashfully, earning laughs from everyone in the room.

"And now, ... I present you, Tails, my last gift to you: Victoria Sponge!" announced Mabelle, as she slowly lifted the cover off the cake plate, and revealed a Victoria Sponge cake.

Tails opened his mouth widely in astonishment and licked his lips like an excited child as he stared at the masterpiece-like cake. The cream and jam looked absolutely tasty and sweet to the seven year old two-tailed fox.

"W-wow!" the fox said as a wide smile slowly crept its way onto his white muzzle, "That looks ... BEAUTIFUL!"

"I knew you'd love it!" said Perci, clasping her hands happily together, "Happy birthday, Tails!"

"I think somebody's hungry," commented Knuckles, although everyone ignored him.

"Thank you so much, Mabelle, for doing something so special for me as your last act," smiled Tails tearfully.

"You're very welcome, birthday boy," replied Mabelle, "You've been such a kind customer, and I'll miss giving you all those lunches."

"I'm gonna miss seeing such a kind cashier at our favorite restaurant," responded Tails.

Knowing that now was the best time to do it, Tails walked up to Mabelle and hugged her to show her how much he would miss having her at Meh Burger, and Mabelle smiled and hugged him back, knowing that she had a customer who would miss her greatly.

Once the two broke off, Tails turned his attention back to the cake, which now had its seven candles lit up. Mina had lit up the candles while the fox wasn't looking.

Before Tails could even reply, his friends and Mabelle had all burst into song as they happily sang the "Happy Birthday" song to him. He blushed and smiled as a tear escaped from his eyes. Hearing the "Happy Birthday" song did feel embarrassing, even though he was only turning seven and would be hearing that song many more times in his life, but he was also happy because it was being sung by friends who all cared about him and always tried their best to make him feel like family.

As soon as the song was over, Tails took it as his prompt to blow the candles out, and with a special birthday wish that he wouldn't tell anyone about, he took a deep breath and blew all seven candles out with one blow, earning applause from everyone else in the room.

"Happy birthday, Tails!" cheered Amy.

"Hey, little bro," whispered Sonic.

Tails turned to his big brother, and he saw the hedgehog grinning faintly at him with an apologetic look on his face. The fox knew what that face was telling him: that Sonic was sorry for forgetting about his little brother's birthday and that he wanted to set things right any way he could.

"Sonic, ... I-" Tails began, but Sonic gently shushed him.

"Could you join me in your workshop for a moment? There's a special something I want to give you, and I think it's best if it would be just the two of us alone," said Sonic.

"Um, ... o-okay, Sonic," said a dumbfounded Tails.

Everyone else nodded to them as if they knew exactly what Sonic's plan was, and they gathered back in the living room to wait for their return. Sonic then took Tails' hand and led him through the front door, across the lawn and into his large workshop.

Once the door was closed, and everything was suddenly quiet, Sonic sat down on the floor behind the table, which would be a good hiding spot from anyone coming in through the door, and Tails joined him and sat down on the floor, in front of his brother.

"Okay, Sonic, what is it?" asked Tails.

"Okay, Tails," sighed Sonic as he mentally prepared himself to present his special gift, "I felt absolutely terrible yesterday when you told me that I had forgotten your birthday, and I wanted to do whatever it took to make this birthday extra special in order to make up for my stupid mistake. Mina may mean the world to me, but I know deep down that you also mean the world to me, ... in a different way, of course. I love Mina as my girlfriend, and I've been enjoying helping her with her music, but I also love you, Tails, as my special little brother, and when I took you in as my brother, I promised to never neglect you. Well, you made me realize yesterday that I broke that promise, but I'm going to show you that I promise to never break that promise again."

"You mean, that pinky promise we made on the day you decided I would become your little brother," giggled Tails as he remembered that day all those years ago.

"Yep," chuckled Sonic, "Anyways, to show how much I love you and care about you as a brotherly figure in your life, I wanted to give you something that will always remind you that I will always be there for you, and that you will always have a brother to look after you."

With those words, the hedgehog revealed a small blue box in his hand, and he held it out in front of Tails.

"This is for you, little bro," he said with a grin.

Tails grinned back and gently took the box. Then, he slowly opened it and gasped in amazement...

Inside the box was a shiny finger ring that had the letters "BBF" engraved on it.

"BBF," smiled Sonic, "It means, 'Best Brothers Forever'. You are very precious to me, Tails, and I want you to know that as a brother, I love you very much and I will always try to care for you and protect you as you grow up to become a hero like me. Happy birthday, Tails."

Tails sniffled and let his floodgates open. Happy tears streamed from his eyes and formed waterfalls that flowed down his cheeks. This was the happiest birthday gift he had ever received in his young life. He knew full well now how much he meant to Sonic, and how much Sonic meant to him.

Even through all the hardships and arguments that occasionally threatened to strain their brotherly bond, they would always come through in the end and never let their brotherhood die. Sonic and Tails would be best brothers until the very end.

"Thank you!" cried Tails, "Thank you so much, Sonic!"

"You're very welcome, Tails," replied Sonic, "I love you, bro, and happy birthday."

Tails' wet cheeks turned deep red, and he jumped onto Sonic's lap and hugged his brother tightly. Sonic didn't hesitate to return the hug, and after a minute, Tails managed to calm himself down.

"Here, little bro, gimme your hand," said Sonic.

Tails held out his left hand, and Sonic slowly removed the glove to reveal the fox's yellow fingers.

"First, let's renew our pinky promise we made all those years ago," chuckled Sonic.

Tails laughed a little, and the two pointed their pinky fingers up.

"I pinky promise, Tails, to always care for you and protect you from harm, and to never again neglect you. I will always love you and treat you like a special brother as you grow up to become my apprentice."

"And I pinky promise, Sonic, to always be there to help you in times of need, just like you do for me, and I always care for you when you're down and need me to step up in your place. I will never neglect you, and I will always treat you like a special big brother raising me to one day become a hero just like you," replied Tails.

"Pinky promise, little bro?" said Sonic.

"Pinky promise, big bro!" chuckled Tails.

With a playful giggle, the two brothers finally pressed their pinkies against each other to seal their brotherly vow. This seemed to bring back warm memories of Tails' early days with Sonic as the hedgehog raised him during the time he actually lived in this house before he built his own shack.

Then came the moment that would define Tails' special seventh birthday, as Sonic gently held Tails' left wrist and slipped the 'Best Brothers Forever' ring on his finger.

"With this ring on your finger, you'll know that deep inside, you are loved by your special big brother whom will always be there for you," said Sonic.

"Thank you, Sonic," said Tails as Sonic placed his left glove back on the fox's hand and stood up, playfully lifted Tails off his feet and hugged him tightly as if he was a toddler who could easily be carried around. The fox laughed playfully as the hedgehog carried him towards the door, then Sonic set him back down on his feet.

"That will be our little secret, okay?" whispered Sonic.

Tails laughed and chuckled, "Okay, Sonic."

"Ready for a piece of that cake, little bro?" asked Sonic.

"Oh, you bet I am, big bro!" giggled Tails.

The hedgehog and fox playfully raced each other across the lawn to the front door of the lawn, and Tails managed to get to the door before Sonic. The fox knew that the hedgehog let him win because it was his birthday.

Everyone was still gathered around the living room area when they saw the door open with Sonic and a very cheerful Tails emerge from outside.

"So, Tails, ready for that cake?" asked Mabelle.

"Oh, yeah!" smiled Tails.

With the cue being given, everyone gathered back into the kitchen and sat down at the table to enjoy a piece of Victoria Sponge cake.

Although Tails knew he would be receiving more gifts from his friends in just a matter of minutes, he thought that none of them would be able to compare to his special ring he had just received from Sonic. This was a birthday he would never forget, and he was happy to have Sonic as his brother, knowing that he would never again neglect his feelings in the way he had done.

Sonic, meanwhile, was feeling so happy to have reconciled with his little brother by giving him a birthday party and a special ring he would never forget. Now that he and Tails were on good terms again, he could go back to thinking about spending time with Mina. Of course, he would have to remember that saying 'hello' to Tails at least once every day would always come first, as while having a girlfriend was important, caring for a little brother was even more important, and Sonic would make do with his promise to never neglect Tails again.

And during the party, when no one was looking, Zooey had wished Tails a happy birthday, before she then quickly gave Tails a kiss on the cheek, as a little present from her to him. This made Tails really blush and feel dreamy and dazed. But while Zooey thought no one had seen her kiss Tails' cheek secretly, Mina had managed to see it when the vixen wasn't looking and thought that someday, Zooey would eventually become Tails' girlfriend.

* * *

 ** _Once again, we sincerely apologize for keeping you all waiting for nearly a whole month, but as said above, we encountered focusing problems, and we were also busy with other things in the process. We will be more focused on the story from now._**

 ** _Anyways, Tails has just had possibly the best surprise birthday party he's ever had, thanks to Sonic and Mina arranging it with their friends, and Mabelle even making the Victoria Sponge cake too. And now that Tails has a BBF ring from Sonic, the two brothers have now made amends and the Blue Leader makes the promise to never neglect his brother ever again._**

 ** _We will be focusing back on Sonic and Mina's relationship for the rest of the story, since they are the main characters of the story. Tails has had his spotlight in the story, so now, we will return to Sonic and his love for Mina._**

 ** _COMING UP IN CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Sonic and Mina spend more romantic time together, and it isn't long before Mina's music becomes popular!_**


End file.
